UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


WITH 


REPORTS  AND  DOCUMENTS 


ELIZUR  BEACE  HINSDALE 


NEW  YORK 

PRESS  OF  J.  J.  LITTLE  &  CO. 
1901 


CorTRIGHT,  1301,  BT 

ELIZUR  BRACE  HINSDALB 


4 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTION    .  7 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 

CHAPTER 

I.    BOYHOOD  DAYS 13 

II.    SCHOOL  DAYS 17 

III.  INCIDENTS  OF  MY  CHILDHOOD       .        .       .       .        .       .      20 

IV.  LIFE  OUTSIDE  OF  SCHOOLS    .  ....  28 
PJ 

fM              V.  HABITS  OF  READING     .        .       .       .      ......  32 

VI.  PLANS  OF  LIFE  FORMING 35 

VII.  FIVE  YEARS  OF  COUNTRY  PRACTICE 40 

VIII.  REMOVAL  TO  NEW  YORK 46 

IX.  PUBLIC  QUESTIONS        .       .       .       .       .       .       .        .  52 

X.  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB    .        .       .       ..       t       '.       \       .59 

XI.  COURT  OF  SPECIAL  SESSIONS 76 

XII.  REFLECTIONS         .       .       .       .       .       .      -.    "•«        .  80 

REPORTS  AND  DOCUMENTS 

NORTHERN  INTERFERENCE  WITH  SLAVERY         .        ,  .  .      87 

CONSTITUTIONALITY  OF  CONSCRIPTION        .        .        .        .  .  .91 

NEW  PARKS      . .  .  .95 

LAND  TRANSFER  REFORM  ...        .....  .  .    105 

PROTECTIVE  TARIFF  .        .        .               .        .       .        .  ,  .    123 

THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC       .       .       t               .        .       'f  .  .    182 

THE  McKiNLEY  TARIFF,  1890 .138 

NEW  ORLEANS  RIOTS  (FIRST  REPORT)      .        .       .        .  .  .    146 


185380 


6  CONTENTS 


PAGE 


NEW  OELEANS  RIOTS  (SECOND  REPORT)  .  .  .  .  .  • .  152 
GOVERNOR  DAVID  B.  HILL'S  STEAL  OF  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  STATE 

OF  NEW  YOEK 163 

HAWAIIAN  ISLANDS 1?9 

ELECTIONS  OF  1893 ;  .  •  •  .186 

MUNICIPAL  BEFOEM 196 

BENJAMIN  HAEEISON  CAMPAIGN 208 

POLICE  LEGISLATION 225 

MUNICIPAL  LEGISLATION 232 

A  PROPOSED  BILL  ON  COMPULSORY  EDUCATION  ....  241 

REPOET  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  ON  POLITICAL  REFOEM  .  .  .  246 

REPOET  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  ON  POLITICAL  REFOEM  .  .  .  248 

REPOET  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  ON  POLITICAL  REFOEM  .  .  .  251 

REPORT  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  ON  POLITICAL  REFORM  .  .  .  255 

REPORT  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  ON  POLITICAL  REFORM  .  .  .  259 

REPORT  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  ON  POLITICAL  REFORM  .  .  .  264 

ADDRESS  TO  HON.  WILLIAM  M.  -EVAETS 270 

PAPER  PREPARED  FOR  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB  IN  MEMORY  OF 

JOHN  BRIGHT 275 

NATIVE  COPPER  IN  MICHIGAN 278 

ARGUMENT  BEFORE  THE  LEGISLATUEE  IN  FAVOR  OF  AN  EAST 

RIVER  BRIDGE 292 

THE  REAL  VALUE  OF  COIN 300 

OPINION  IN  CASE  OF  JOHN  MOST  THE  ANARCHIST  ....  306 

LETTERS  OF  JUDGES  AND  OTHERS,  1861  .        .                               ,  315 


INTRODUCTION 

Every  book  should  have  an  introduction,  and  for  that 
reason  I  write  one  for  this  book.  Such  productions  are 
generally  a  stately  address  to  the  public,  giving  the  scope 
and  purpose  of  their  publication.  As  this  book  will  have 
no  reading  by  the  general  public  and  have  no  scope,  I 
need  therefore  only  deal  with  the  purpose  of  its  publica- 
tion. The  statement  of  this  might  with  propriety  be 
omitted,  except  that  the  original  design,  which  was  to  issue 
it  for  strictly  family  circulation,  has  been  departed  from, 
and  a  few  extra  copies  are  to  be  printed  for  those  personal 
friends  who  may  take  a  friendly  interest  in  me.  It  is  with 
this  latter  class  of  readers  that  I  am  now  trying  to  talk. 
It  is  to  each  of  you  who  may  read  these  lines  that  I  wish 
to  offer  a  few  words  of  explanation  as  to  how  I  came  to 
prepare  this  volume. 

For  the  purposes  of  this  work  you  are  taken  into  the 
private  confidences  of  the  family.  And  now,  if  I  have 
succeeded  in  establishing  the  proper  relations  between  you 
and  myself,  I  will  tell  you  all  about  how  I  came  to  prepare 
this  volume  and  the  purposes  of  it.  I  am  emboldened  to 
take  you  thus  into  my  confidence  by  the  hope  that  it  will 
remove  from  your  mind  the  idea,  if  it  is  lurking  there, 
that  I  am  conceited  enough  to  think  that  anything  I  have 
ever  done  or  written  is  worthy  to  be  preserved.  You  will 
see  by  my  statement  how  an  innocent  idea  can  grow  and 
strengthen  until  a  prudent  man  is  carried  along  to  a  posi- 


8  INTRODUCTION 

tion  which  he  would  not  have  entertained  for  one  moment 
at  the  outset. 

It  happens  that  at  various  times  in  my  life  I  have  writ- 
ten articles  upon  diverse  subjects,  many  of  which  have 
been  printed  in  pamphlets.  Many  years  ago  I  promised 
my  wife  and  children  that  I  would  look  over  my  papers 
and  gather  together  such  as  I  could  find  and  bind  them  up 
in  a  somewhat  orderly  and  permanent  form.  Had  I  at- 
tended to  this  matter  at  the  time,  my  family  would  have 
been  contented,  and  I  would  have  been  saved  much  trouble 
now.  Within  the  past  few  months  I  undertook  to  fulfil 
my  long-deferred  promise.  I  found  my  papers  in  bad 
condition  to  bind.  The  suggestion  to  print  them  again  was 
made,  and  to  this  I  assented.  Then  came  the  suggestion 
that  I  preface  the  papers  with  an  autobiography.  Against 
this  I  protested  again  and  again,  and  then  yielded.  What 
a  common  experience  this  is  for  mankind !  How  often 
men  have  been  obliged  to  explain  their  position  just  as  I 
am  now  doing,  because  they  have  yielded  to  the  influence 
of  others!  There  are  two  sides  to  this  reflection.  It 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  influence  of  others  often 
saves  us  from  many  blunders,  if  not  something  worse. 
THaving  consented  to  the  autobiography,  I  entered  upon 
•the  work  with  misgivings  and  no  little  protest  against  the 
•propriety  of  it.  I  have  found  comfort  in  the  reflection 
that  it  is  not  to  be  read  by  the  public,  but  by  my  family  and 
'by  you,  my  friend. 

This  reflection  has  emboldened  me  to  write  many  things 
that  I  would  not  otherwise  have  written.  What  is  an 
autobiography,  after  all  ?  It  is  only  the  story  of  how  one 
grows  and  what  one  does  from  his  own  standpoint.  I 
have  put  down  the  story  of  my  life  just  as  I  recall  it.  I 
have  endeavored  to  give  my  personality  in  outline  in  these 


INTRODUCTION  9 

pages  as  it  appears  to  me.  If  you  read  it,  remember 
always  it  was  written  primarily  for  my  family,  and  that 
I  yielded  to  the  latter  when  it  was  suggested  that  it  would 
be  well  to  print  a  few  extra  copies  for  friends.  That  is 
the  way  it  happens  that  you  are  permitted  to  read  the 
uneventful  story  of  my  life,  put  down  with  the  license  and 
liberty  of  the  family  circle. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  account  of  my  life,  memory 
has  given  up  many  incidents  long  since  generally  forgot- 
ten. I  have  found  pleasure  in  recalling  them.  Such 
incidents  have  been  the  experience  of  thousands  of  coun- 
try boys.  They  are  trivial  and  commonplace,  yet  they  left 
their  impress  upon  me.  As  I  recall  them  I  can  now 
understand  that  they  helped  to  form  my  character,  such 
as  it  is. 

Everything  is  important  to  a  boy.  Character  grows  in 
a  boy  by  the  force  and  nature  of  his  environments.  I 
had  no  great  temptations  of  an  evil  nature.  I  had  no 
great  trials  or  deprivations.  I  just  grew  with  healthy, 
wholesome  influences  around  me,  with  no  luxuries  and 
limited  opportunities.  I  was  hungry  and  eager  for  knowl- 
edge, and  by  the  aid  of  books  acquired  such  learning  as  I 
craved,  without  much  guidance  and  with  little  assistance. 
I  grew  mentally  as  I  read,  because  I  enjoyed  it.  It  was 
luxurious  freedom  from  all  restraints  of  rules  or  tutors, 
investigating  much  or  little  of  any  subject  my  fancy  might 
desire.  What  would  have  been  the  effect  upon  me  of  a 
course  of  regular  education,  I  have  often  asked  myself. 
The  question  is  easier  asked  than  answered.  I  do  not 
know  the  answer.  I  simply  grew,  as  I  have  endeavored 
to  show  in  this  autobiography. 

New  York,  December  4,  1901. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


CHAPTER   I 

BOYHOOD  DAYS 

My  family  was  an  ancient  family,  as  such  things  are 
reckoned  in  this  country.  I  am  the  seventh  lineal  de- 
scendant of  Robert  Hinsdale,  who  was  one  of  the  founders 
of  Dedham,  Massachusetts.  The  ancient  records  of  that 
town  show  that  he  was  prominent  there  as  early  as  1630. 
The  family  was  undoubtedly  of  French  or  Lowland  origin. 
The  name  figures  extensively  in  church  and  state  matters 
affecting  eastern  Continental  Europe  since  about  the 
twelfth  century,  but  no  trace  of  the  name  can  be  found  in 
the  British  Islands. 

I  was  born  on  the  fourth  day  of  December,  1831.  When 
I  got  old  enough  to  observe  things  around  me,  I  found  I 
had  been  ushered  into  life  in  a  very  respectable  framed 
farmhouse  in  the  town  of  Le  Roy,  Genesee  County,  State 
of  New  York.  This  town  was  situated  on  the  old  line  of 
turnpikes  and  highways  that  formed  the  stage-coach  line 
between  Albany  and  Buffalo.  The  particular  farmhouse 
referred  to  was  two  miles  west  of  the  then  flourishing 
village  of  Le  Roy,  Western  New  York.  At  a  time  not 
long  before  my  birth  that  country  had  been  covered  with 
a  dense  growth  of  forest  trees.  The  trees  were  thick,  tall, 
and  straight,  very  many  of  them  of  respectable  size,  from 
three  to  seven  feet  in  diameter.  At  the  time  my  observa- 
tions began  the  early  settlers  had  felled  patches  of  those 
noble  trees,  had  built  log-houses  and  log-barns,  with  an 
occasional  framed  house  like  that  belonging  to  my  father. 


14  BOYHOOD  DAYS 

The  soil  of  the  country  was  of  exceptional  fertility,  and 
yielded  rich  reward  to  the  labor  bestowed  upon  it.  My 
early  life  was  spent  in  that  period  of  not  exactly  frontier 
life,  but  of  transition  of  a  partially  subdued  country  to 
that  of  one  of  the  most  beautiful  garden  spots  of  the  world. 
It  was  a  wonderland  of  transformation  to  me,  from  almost 
primitive  wildness  to  a  high  state  of  rural  cultivation.  I 
imagine  that  such  surroundings  to  my  boy  life  had  great 
influence  in  forming  my  character. 

My  home  was  surrounded  by  a  young  but  vigorous 
orchard  of  apples,  pears,  peaches,  and  plums.  On  the  op- 
posite side  of  the  street,  on  our  nearest  neighbor's  farm, 
the  forest  had  been  cut  down,  but  sturdy  stumps  covered 
the  whole  field.  In  the  depressions  of  the  soil  pools  of 
water  would  gather  in  the  winter,  and,  when  frozen  over, 
furnished  me  fine  skating.  All  the  surrounding  country 
had  large  tracts  of  virgin  timber,  in  which  animals  and 
birds  and  all  sorts  of  creeping  things  lived  and  flour- 
ished, as  their  kind  had  done  for  countless  ages.  These 
forests  were  a  perpetual  source  of  interest  and  pleasure 
to  me  in  my  boyhood  days.  I  was  allowed  a  larger  lati- 
tude to  roam  there  than  fell  to  the  lot  of  most  boys.  When 
I  was  about  three  years  old  I  had  scarlet  fever.  I  was 
told  that  my  life  was  despaired  of.  On  my  recovery  I  was 
such  a  sickly  child  that  every  indulgence  was  given  me 
until  I  was  about  eight  years  of  age, 

I  cannot  say  that  I  studied  anything.  The  meaning 
of  the  word  study  was  hardly  known  to  me  then.  I  just 
enjoyed  everything.  The  tall  and  stately  trees  awed  me ; 
the  music  of  the  birds  charmed  me.  From  the  first  bud- 
dings of  leaves  and  wild  flowers  in  the  spring  to  the  falling 
of  the  ripened  nuts  and  withered  leaves  under  the  blight- 
ing influence  of  the  autumn's  frosts,  every  stage  of  the 


BOYHOOD  DAYS  15 

mighty  panorama  was  interesting  to  me.  I  did  not  under- 
stand it.  I  do  not  think  I  wanted  to  understand  it.  All 
I  wanted  was  to  observe  and  feel  it.  I  learned  to  know 
the  order  in  which  birds  return  after  their  winter's  wan- 
dering. I  observed  that  certain  birds  returned  to  the 
same  place  to  build  anew  their  nests.  Their  music  and 
calls  were  familiar  to  me.  I  never  can  forget  the  thrill 
of  pleasure  it  was  to  me  when  I  first  heard  the  meadow- 
lark,  with  its  burst  of  music  from  the  ground,  start  up- 
ward with  joy  and  delight  in  every  note  to  greet  the  light 
of  the  sun  just  beginning  to  tinge  the  eastern  sky.  It 
was  yet  so  dark  I  could  not  see  the  bird,  but  the  burst  of 
music  from  the  ground  continued  upward  and  upward 
with  thrilling  effect.  No  other  bird  had  yet  sounded  a 
note.  Nature  was  in  that  state  of  awful  stillness  that 
immediately  precedes  the  awakening  of  a  new  day.  Let 
no  one  ever  expect  to  hear  this  almost  divine  Nature's 
song  unless  he  is  present  in  still  meadow-land  before  the 
early  dawn  of  a  summer's  day.  Even  then  it  is  not  often 
that  he  will  hear  it.  In  those  days  I  knew  where  the 
largest  and  best  wild  berries  grew ;  I  knew  the  wild  vines 
that  were  poisonous,  and  the  nuts  and  roots  that  could 
be  safely  eaten.  Wasps'  nests  and  wild  honey-bees'  nests 
were  often  attacked  by  me,  when  a  most  interesting  con- 
test would  ensue  between  myself  and  the  occupants  of 
these  nests,  in  which  I  regret  to  state  that  the  spirit  of 
truth  which  pervades  this  narrative  compels  me  to  admit 
that  in  some  instances  I  came  off  second  best. 

Thus  in  my  early  childhood  I  grew  as  wild  and  natural 
as  did  everything  about  me.  I  was  a  typical  country-born 
boy,  greatly  interested  in  the  things  in  sight,  knowing 
nothing  of  the  things  out  of  sight.  My  home  was  plain, 
but  for  the  place  and  times  there  was  an  air  of  culture 


1C  BOYHOOD  DAYS 

and  refinement  in  it.  My  parents  were  Connecticut 
people,  who  brought  with  them  the  sterling  principles  of 
the  people  of  those  times.  They  were  devoted  to  the 
doctrines  and  teachings  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and, 
as  may  be  inferred,  I  received  constant  admonition  in  the 
principles  of  religion  and  morality.  Every  morning  after 
breakfast  the  family  and  servants  were  assembled  for  the 
reading  of  a  chapter  in  the  Bible  and  family  prayers.  I 
can  but  think  that  such  a  practice  is  of  the  highest  value 
in  moulding  the  character  of  a  child. 

At  the  age  of  about  eight  years  my  health  improved, 
and  I  became  a  sturdy  and  healthy  boy.  From  that  time 
to  this  date  I  have  been  strong  and  vigorous,  with  only 
occasional  short  periods  of  sickness.  I  have  always  be- 
lieved that  my  early  free  life  laid  the  foundation  for  a 
healthy  body  that  enabled  me,  as  my  life  progressed,  to 
perform  a  great  amount  of  mental  work.  I  do  not  know 
just  when  I  was  first  sent  to  school,  but,  as  near  as  I  can 
recall  it,  it  was  at  about  the  age  of  eight  years. 

This  was  very  irksome  to  me.  The  longing  for  the 
woods  was  intense,  and,  in  spite  of  all  my  good  resolutions, 
I  would  run  away  from  school  and  spend  my  time  with 
the  birds  and  squirrels.  It  was  with  a  stinging  conscious- 
ness of  guilt  that  I  would  return  home,  to  be  admonished 
again  and  again  of  the  wrong  I  was  doing,  and  with  real 
earnestness  and  great  fervency  I  would  promise  not  to 
offend  again.  How  true  it  is  that  boy  nature  is  only  a 
type  of  mature  manhood !  The  spirit  was  willing,  but  the 
flesh  was  weak.  The  attractions  of  the  woods  were  too 
much  for  me,  and,  after  a  prolonged  sufferance  and  indul- 
gence of  my  waywardness,  paternal  duty  required  the  re- 
peated applications  of  a  remedy  of  which  I  do  not  care 
to  speak  at  this  time. 


CHAPTEK   H 

SCHOOL   DAYS 

As  I  have  just  stated,  I  was  sent  to  school  at  about  the 
age  of  eight  years.  It  was  a  real  old-fashioned,  typical 
country  common  district  school.  The  building  was  just 
across  the  street  from  my  father's  house.  It  was  a  square 
stone  building,  one  story  high,  with  one  room  for  all  school 
purposes.  The  long  benches  and  desks  were  arranged 
around  the  room,  each  succeeding  row  slightly  raised, 
until  the  last  row  was  next  the  wall.  In  front  of  the  in? 
side  row  was  a  low  wooden  bench,  fastened  to  the  straight 
backs  of  the  inside  row  of  desks.  This  inside  bench  was 
for  the  small  children.  I  recall  that  the  bench  was  so 
high  my  feet  could  not  touch  the  floor,  and  the  straight 
back  was  much  above  my  head.  The  arrangement  of  the 
desks  was  such  that  it  left  a  square  space  in  the  middle 
of  the  room,  where  all  the  classes  were  lined  up  for  reci-: 
tations,  standing  in  a  line  in  front  of  the  little  children. 
In  the  middle  of  the  space,  in-  the  winter  season,  was  a 
square  box  stove,  that  had  to  be  kept  at  a  high  tempera- 
ture to  warm  the  room  sufficiently  for  scholars  on  the  back 
seats.  The  school  hours  in.  the  morning  were  from  nine 
o'clock  until  twelve  o'clock,  and  in  the  afternoon,  from 
one  o'clock  until  four  o'clock,  with  a  short  recess  each 
forenoon  and  afternoon.  I  recall  to  this  day  the  intense 
weariness  of  those  days.  I  was  called  up  twice  each  days 
to  recite  what  was  called,  a  lesson— once  in  the  forenoon 

2 


18  SCHOOL  DAYS 

and  once  in  the  afternoon.  I  had  an  intense  disgust  for 
the  arrangements  and  the  whole  proceeding.  I  suffered 
it  for  three  years  because  I  had  to.  In  the  winter  sea- 
son all  the  older  boys  attended  the  school,  and  we  had  a 
man  teacher.  In  the  summer  we  had  a  woman  teacher. 
The  attendance  was  less  then,  and  we  were  more  com- 
fortable. In  the  winter  the  attendance  was  often  over 
sixty  pupils,  of  all  ages  and  grades,  in  that  one  small 
room.  No  wonder  memories  of  my  first  two  or  three 
years  of  school  life  are  only  those  of  torture  and  discon- 
tent. However,  I  did  make  some  progress.  The  sum- 
mers were  much  more  tolerable  than  the  winters.  It  is 
a  pleasure  to  recall  one  teacher,  Miss  Mary  Eichardson, 
who  is  still  living,  who  says  she  taught  me  my  A  B  C's. 
I  do  not  remember  it,  but  she  is,  no  doubt,  correct.  I 
must  have  made  some  progress  in  the  first  three  years,  for 
I  was  allowed  to  sit  on  the  back  seats  instead  of  the  front 
bench,  where  I  had  suffered  so  much  torture.  The  first 
study  that  I  recollect  feeling  any  interest  in  was  arith- 
metic, when  I  was  eleven  years  old.  It  seems  to  me  this 
was  the  first  awakening  of  my  intellectual  faculties,  or 
perhaps  I  should  say  it  was  the  first  movement  in  book 
learning  that  furnished  its  own  stimulus  of  pleasure  in 
study.  Of  course  I  had  been  taught  the  rudiments  of 
knowledge  in  the  usual  fundamental  lines.  In  mathe- 
matics I  found  a  mental  pleasure  that  soon  carried  me 
along  at  a  rapid  rate,  regardless  of  teachers  and  classes. 

At  about  the  age  of  twelve  years  I  was  a  big,  strong 
boy,  and  was  withdrawn  from  school  in  the  summer  sea- 
son and  put  to  such  work  on  the  farm  as  was  suitable  to 
my  age,  but  was  continued  in  school  during  the  winter 
season.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  I  had  made  such  progress 
that  the  district  school  was  of  no  more  service  to  me,  and 


SCHOOL  DAYS  19 

I  was  permitted  to  walk  two  miles  to  the  village  academy 
for  three  winters,  and  that  ended  all  the  aid  I  ever  re^ 
ceived  from  schools  and  teachers  in  getting  an  education. 
The  three  disconnected  terms  in  the  village  academy  ag-- 
gregated  from  ten  to  twelve  months  of  attendance.  I  do 
not  feel  that  I  am  greatly  indebted  to  schools  and  teachers 
i'or  such  education  as  I  have.  Yet  they  were  of  great 
aid  in  waking  up  my  faculties  until  they  moved  of  them- 
selves in  the  irregular  lines  that  I  shall  detail  in  another 
chapter.  My  father  was  very  proud  of  me,  and  often 
talked  of  sending  me  to  Yale  College.  Visions  of  this 
possibility  dazzled  me  for  a  number  of  years,  but  financial 
difficulties,  that  do  not  concern  this  narrative,  prevented 
it.  The  struggle  for  knowledge  had  to  be  made  alone, 
with  only  such  fortuitous  helps  as  came  in  my  way. 


CHAPTER  in 

INCIDENTS   OF   MY   CHILDHOOD 

As  I  have  stated  before,  my  home  was  on  the  stage 
route  between  Albany  and  Buffalo.  The  passing  of  the 
old  stages  each  way  daily,  with  their  four  horses,  the 
drivers  cracking  their  long  whips  to  touch  up  the  leaders, 
and  sometimes  blowing  their  tin  horns,  impressed  my 
childish  mind  as  the  grandest  thing  in  the  world.  I 
learned  by  experience  that  if  I  stood  by  the  roadside  and 
held  up  ripe  apples  in  my  little  hands  the  drivers  would 
pull  up  their  grand  teams  and  reach  down  and  take  the 
apples  from  me  with  great  pleasure.  I  remember  one 
driver,  named  Mike,  who  was  very  gracious  to  me,  and 
often  asked  me  to  climb  up  and  drive  with  him,  often  as 
far  as  the  village,  two  miles  away.  The  first  distinct  ambi- 
tion that  I  recall  as  formed  in  my  mind  was  to  be  a  stage 
driver.  Mike  used  to  talk  with  we  about  it  in  a  kindly 
way.  I  don't  think  any  resolution  in  my  mind  was  ever 
more  firmly  fixed  than  that  was.  After  the  lapse  of  a  few 
years  a  railroad  was  built  through  the  town,  and  the  lines 
of  what  is  now  the  New  York  Central  Railroad  were  ex- 
tended to  Buffalo,  and  the  stages  were  withdrawn  from 
the  route  by  my  father's  house.  This  was  a  great  sorrow 
to  me,  but  I  was  greatly  impressed  by  the  exalted  and 
commanding  position  of  a  conductor  of  a  train.  To  hear 
him  sing  out  the  familiar  "  All  aboard !  "  then  wave  his 
hand  to  the  engineer  as  a  signal  for  the  train  to  move  from 


INCIDENTS  OF  MY  CHILDHOOD  21 

the  station,  and  then  swing  on  to  the  moving  train  as  it 
sped  away  out  of  my  vision  seemed  to  me  a  little  grander 
than  the  position  of  a  stage  driver.  So  my  ambition  took 
up  this  new  fancy,  and  I  dwelt  for  years  on  the  coming 
time  when  I  should  be  a  railroad  conductor. 

A  "  general  training "  of  my  boyhood  needs  a  few 
words  of  description  for  those  who  are  not  old  enough  to 
recall  those  days.  All  men  within  certain  age  limits  were 
obliged  to  belong  to  a  military  organization.  They  were 
organized  into  companies,  and  these  companies  were 
formed  into  regiments.  They  were  the  militia  organiza- 
tion of  the  State.  At  one  time  they  were  undoubtedly 
seriously  conducted,  and  were  regarded  as  an  important 
arm  of  defence  for  a  free  people.  The  long  peace  since 
the  war  of  1812  with  England  had  so  weakened  the  gen- 
eral military  spirit  that  at  the  time  of  my  childhood  the 
whole  system  was  a  howling  farce,  and  was  soon  thereafter 
•wiped  out  of  existence,  and  our  present  system  of  uni- 
formed militia  was  substituted  for  it.  The  annual  general 
training  of  the  regiments  was  still  in  existence  in  my 
boyhood  in  the  autumn  of  each  year.  The  men  were 
assembled  in  companies,  but  without  uniforms,  bearing 
such  arms  as  they  possessed,  whether  a  shotgun  or  a  rifle, 
or  perhaps  the  old  arm  of  their  revolutionary  fathers. 
At  the  time  I  speak  of,  the  demoralization  was  such  that 
the  young  men  vied  with  each  other  in  their  costumes  of 
old  hats  and  queer  clothing.  The  whole  proceedings  were 
a  rollicking  outing  for  a  day's  sport.  The  music  was  dis- 
pensed by  a  drum  and  fife  band  gathered  from  the  towns 
of  the  county,  the  members  of  which  probably  never 
played  together  except  on  these  annual  musters.  The 
band  was  not  uniformed,  and  was  without  any  apparent 
leader.  The  drummers  pounded  away  furiously,  the  prin- 


22  INCIDENTS  OF  MY  CHILDHOOD 

cipal  one  in  the  estimation  of  the  small  boys  being  the 
short,  portly  man  with  the  bass  drum.  The  fifes  kept  up 
a  constant  discordant,  shrill  noise.  It  was  with  such  mar- 
tial music  that  the  motley  crowd,  after  assembling  on  the 
village  green,  marched  to  the  field  for  drill  and  training. 

To  the  small  boy  this  outing  was  looked  forward  to 
with  great  expectations  of  delight.  The  grounds  were 
surrounded  with  all  sorts  of  places  of  amusements,  fake 
sales,  and  booths  for  the  sale  of  sweet  cider  and  ginger- 
bread. 

On  one  of  these  occasions,  in  the  morning,  my  father 
surprised  me  by  giving  me  a  silver  half-dollar  for  spend- 
ing money.  I  had  never  had  so  much  money  before,  and 
I  walked  to  the  grounds  revolving  in  my  mind  plans  for 
disposing  of  it.  Of  course  a  limited  amount  of  ginger- 
bread and  sweet  cider  was  to  be  purchased,  but  the  balance 
was  what  bothered  me.  In  walking  around  the  grounds 
my  attention  was  attracted  by  a  glib-tongued  auctioneer, 
who  was  selling  what  he  said  was  a  rare  work  of  art,  a 
flaming  red  picture  of  the  great  fire  in  JSTew  York.  As 
I  had  heard  all  about  the  great  fire,  I  thought  such  a 
treasure  ought  to  be  secured  for  the  family  at  home.  I 
commenced  bidding  on  the  picture,  and  soon  reached  the 
limit  of  my  capital,  when  it  was  knocked  down  to  me  at 
fifty  cents,  the  auctioneer  declaring  that  he  was  giving 
me  the  treasure.  I  carried  the  picture  around  with  me 
all  day,  and  when  I  got  hungry  and  thirsty  had  no  means 
of  gratifying  my  wants,  and  went  home  hungry.  When 
I  reached  there  my  work  of  art  was  severely  criticised, 
and  I  went  to  bed  with  a  heavy  heart.  I  became  satisfied 
that  I  had  been  lied  to  and  deceived  by  that  auctioneer. 
I  never  wanted  to  look  at  the  picture  again.  The  thought 
that  a  mature  man  and  an  auctioneer  would  so  deceive  a 


23 

boy  sank  so  deeply  into  my  mind  that  I  have  never  pur- 
chased a  thing  at  auction  since  that  day.  I  have  never 
felt  that  I  could  trust  the  auctioneer's  statements. 

I  have  often  wondered  if  that  act  of  improvidence  was 
not  a  manifestation  of  a  propensity  to  improvidence  that 
has  plagued  me  to  this  day. 

My  father  was  an  ardent  Whig  and  a  believer  in  that 
great  leader  Henry  Clay.  When  Clay  was  nominated  for 
the  presidency  in  1844  against  James  K.  Polk,  the  Demo- 
cratic nominee,  my  father  was  active  and  earnest  in  pro- 
moting Clay's  canvass.  He  used  to  take  me  to  all  the 
Whig  meetings,  although  I  was  only  a  little  over  twelve 
years  of  age.  I  recall  that  at  one  time  in  this  canvass 
a,  large  wagon  was  fitted  up  in  a  gorgeous  style  to  form 
part  of  a  procession  to  attend  a  mass  meeting  to  be  held 
in  a  neighboring  town.  There  were  ten  or  twelve  horses 
hitched  to  the  wagon,  and  a  small  boy  was  placed  on  the 
back  of  each  horse  to  ride  to  the  place  of  meeting,  I 
being  one  of  the  number.  Our  horses  were  decorated 
with  flags  and  ribbons,  and  the  boys  were  all  furnished 
with  gay  uniforms.  Judging  from  the  applause  we  re- 
ceived, we  must  have  presented  a  gay  appearance  as  we 
rode  along,  our  wagon  filled  with  men  shouting  and  waving 
banners.  When  we  arrived  at  the  field,  I  did  not  go  to 
play  with  the  other  boys,  but  worked  my  way  to  the  front 
of  the  open-air  meeting  to  a  position  just  under  the  edge 
of  the  platform  where  the  speaking  was  to  take  place. 
Boy  as  I  was,  I  listened  with  absorbing  interest  to  every 
word  said.  The  principal  speaker  was  1ST.  K.  Hall,  who 
was  later  in  life  appointed  a  judge  in  the  United  States 
Court  by  President  Fillmore.  After  a  severe  arraign- 
ment of  the  Democratic  party,  he  declared  that  you  "  could 
take  any  principles,  no  matter  how  bad  they  might  be, 


24  INCIDENTS  OP  MY  CHILDHOOD 

and  wrap  the  American  flag  around  them  and  label  them 
Democratic,  and  the  Democrats  would  swallow  them  " — 
not  a  bad  description  of  the  masses  of  the  Democratic 
party  of  this  day. 

The  two  principal  issues  in  1844  beween  the  Democrats 
and  Whigs  were  the  annexation  of  Texas  and  the  pro- 
tective tariff,  although  the  slavery  question  was  an  im- 
portant factor  in  the  canvass,  made  such  by  the  small 
but  aggressive  Abolition  party.  The  Democrats  favored 
the  annexation  of  Texas,  the  Whigs  opposed  the  measure. 
I  recall  that  the  national  flag  of  the  Democrats  carried 
down  among  the  stripes  a  small  square  patch  of  blue  with 
a  single  star  in  it,  symbolically  representing  Texas,  called 
the  Lone  Star  State,  struggling  to  get  up  into  the  larger 
blue  field  of  the  flag,  with  the  stars  there  representing  the 
several  States  of  our  Union.  At  a  meeting  in  my  native 
village  addressed  by  James  S.  Thayer,  who  was  afterwards 
a  shining  light  in  the  Democratic  party,  he  represented 
the  Democratic  party  as  a  ship  at  sea  on  a  dark,  tempes- 
tuous night,  just  ready  to  founder,  with  only  one  lone  star 
by  which  to  guide  its  course.  I  recall  in  the  same  canvass 
a  speech  of  Senator  Truman  Smith,  of  Connecticut,  on  the 
tariff  question.  He  dwelt  upon  the  effect  of  the  tariff 
on  the  wool  industry,  and  had  various  samples  of  wool  to 
exhibit,  illustrative  of  some  of  the  phases  of  his  discussion. 
I  have  noted  the  circumstances  of  these  political  meetings 
as  indicating  an  early  interest  in  political  questions  when 
I  was  less  than  thirteen  years  old,  and  which  in  mature 
life  have  engaged  much  of  my  attention. 

One  day  my  father  told  me  he  wished  me  to  go  on 
horseback  to  a  stage  tavern  about  three  miles  away  to  get 
a  letter.  He  had  an  excellent  habit  of  explaining  every- 
thing to  me,  and  the  reason  of  this  mission  was  told  me. 


INCIDENTS  OF  MY  CHILDHOOD  25 

It  seems  that  after  the  Revolution,  and  for  some  time  in 
the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  there  was  no,  or 
a  very  inadequate,  mail  service  for  Central  and  Western 
New  York  and  for  the  country  farther  west.  It  seems, 
that  when  the  friends  at  the  old  homes  in  New  England 
wanted  to  communicate  with  those  who  had  gone  into  the 
wilds  of  Central  and  Western  New  York,  they  had  a  novel 
custom  of  sending  letters  that  was  almost  universally 
adopted.  If  any  one  was  going  to  any  part  of  the  western 
country  it  was  so  important  an  event  that  it  was  the  town 
talk.  At  once  everybody  wrote  letters  to  his  friends 
and  gave  them  to  the  traveller.  He  would  carry  them 
as  far  as  he  was  going  towards  the  destination  of  the  let- 
ters and  place  them  in  a  letter-rack  found  in  every  stage- 
house  of  those  days.  There  they  would  remain  until  an- 
other traveller — any  stranger — would  look  over  the  rack 
and  select  any  letters  going  in  the  direction  of  his  journey. 
If  he  was  not  going  as  far  as  the  destination  of  the  letters, 
they  would  be  again  placed  in  the  rack  of  the  tavern  for 
some  other  stranger  to  give  them  another  advance  towards 
their  destination,  until  finally  each  letter  would  reach  a 
rack  near  its  destination.  I  rode  proudly  to  the  old  stage- 
house  to  receive  this  last  letter  that  ever  reached  my 
father's  house  in  this  primitive  manner.  I  remember 
feeling  impressed  with  the  importance  of  the  mission.  I 
had  never  been  alone  on  horseback  so  far  from  home  be- 
fore. I  rode  up  to  the  wayside  inn,  and  a  kindly,  portly 
old  man  in  shirt  sleeves  came  to  the  door  and  asked  me 
what  he  could  do  for  me.  I  told  him  I  had  been  sent  by 
my  father  for  a  letter.  He  at  once  took  it  out  of  the  rack 
and  gave  it  to  me,  and  I  rode  home,  happy  in  the  success- 
ful ending  of  the  important  mission.  I  did  not  then  know 
that  I  was  taking  part  in  one  of  the  last  acts  in  a  quaint 


26  INCIDENTS  OF  MY  CHILDHOOD 

system  of  letter-carrying  that  was  then  just  vanishing 
before  the  progress  of  our  present  splendid  postal  sys- 
tem. The  very  knowledge  of  this  old  system  having 
ever  existed  is  being  lost.  I  have  never  heard  or  read 
of  it  except  in  this  instance,  and  would  never  have 
known  of  it  except  for  the  personal  experience  just 
related. 

In  November  of  1844  the  election  was  held  after  the 
exciting  canvass  for  the  respective  candidates  of  the  Whig 
and  Democratic  parties,  Clay  and  Polk.  My  father  felt 
sure  of  Clay's  election.  In  those  days  there  were  no  tele- 
graph lines,  and  the  returns  were  gathered  slowly.  No 
news  reached  us  for  ten  days  or  two  weeks. 

One  cold,  rainy  afternoon,  just  as  darkness  was  begin- 
ning to  settle  over  the  country,  a  tin  horn  sounded  loud 
and  clear  to  the  west  of  our  house.  All  heads  were  at 
the  doors  and  windows,  and  there  we  saw  a  horseman  rid- 
ing furiously  through  the  mud  and  rain,  horse  and  rider 
covered  with  mud,  the  rider  at  intervals  blowing  his  horn 
and  then  calling  out  with  a  clear,  ringing  voice,  "  Hurrah 
for  Polk !  Clay  is  dead."  No  other  word  was  spoken  by 
him,  and  soon  the  sound  of  the  horn  and  the  sickening 
message  vanished  in  the  distance  as  the  rider  pressed  on 
eastward  toward  the  village  of  Le  Roy.  We  heard  no 
more  election  returns  for  many  days,  but  when  they  did 
come  by  the  newspapers  they  confirmed  the  wild  horse- 
man's message.  The  railroad  had  brought  some  advance 
news  to  Batavia,  ten  miles  away,  and  the  horseman,  no 
doubt  an  enthusiastic  Democrat,  took  that  method  to  pro- 
claim the  same  to  the  country  between  Batavia  and  Le 
Roy.  My  father  accepted  the  strange,  weird  proclamation 
as  a  true  account  of  the  result  of  the  election;  and  if  a 
sudden  death  had  occurred  in  the  family  there  could  not 


INCIDENTS  OF  MY  CHILDHOOD  27 

have  been  more  solemn,  subdued  silence  in  it,  which  con- 
tinued for  several  days. 

It  is  hard  to  realize  in  these  modern  times,  when  the 
result  of  an  election  held  all  over  this  great  country  is 
practically  known  by  midnight  in  every  hamlet  blessed 
with  a  telegraph  office,  that  only  fifty-seven  years  since 
such  limited  means  of  communication  existed  here. 


CHAPTEK   IV 

LIFE   OUTSIDE   OF   SCHOOLS 

There  was  more  outside  of  schools  that  developed  my 
character  than  there  was  in  the  schools.  My  father  was 
a  man  of  fine  intellectual  capacity  and  of  as  good  attain- 
ments as  could  reasonably  be  expected  under  the  circum- 
stances of  his  life.  He  was  born  in  1783,  the  year  peace 
was  declared  after  the  American  Revolution.  His  father 
and  four  of  his  brothers  had  been  soldiers  in  the  armies  of 
the  patriots.  Extreme  poverty  and  privation  was  his  por- 
tion in  early  life.  He  managed  to  acquire  the  rudiments 
of  an  education.  He  was  a  great  reader,  and  kept  well 
posted  upon  the  events  of  the  times.  He  took  an  active 
part  in  all  matters  of  religion,  education,  and  politics.  All 
these  matters  were  subjects  of  conversation  in  the  family, 
and  my  ears  were  alert  to  take  in  all  the  views  expressed. 
The  conversations  in  the  family  made  a  deep  and  lasting 
impression  on  my  mind  and  made  me  eager  to  know  more 
of  the  subjects.  I  recall  his  great  interest  in  the  inven- 
tion of  the  electric  telegraph.  He  would  read  the  reports 
of  the  Patent  Office  on  this  invention  and  discuss  the  great 
results  likely  to  come  from  it.  If  my  memory  is  not  at 
fault,  a  Mr.  Evans,  of  Indiana,  was  commissioner  of  pat- 
ents. I  remember  well  when  the  first  message  was  sent 
from  Baltimore  to  Washington.  My  father  was  as  much 
elated  as  if  it  had  been  an  achievement  of  his  own.  This 
was  when  Polk  was  nominated  for  the  presidency  in  1844. 
I  was  then  a  little  over  twelve  years  of  age. 


LIFE  OUTSIDE  OF  SCHOOLS  39 

When  railroads  were  first  constructed  the  trains  ran 
on  a  thin  strap-rail  spiked  on  a  longitudinal  stringer.  I 
recall  well  when  the  first  "  T  "  rail  was  talked  about.  I 
became  interested  in  the  shape  and  form  of  rails  and 
manner  of  fastening  them,  and  have  watched  to  this  day 
the  development  of  the  form  and  character  of  rails  with 
unabated  interest.  I  can  recall  no  circumstance  by  which 
I  can  fix  the  date  when  the  "  T  "  rail  began  to  be  talked 
about,  but  I  do  recall  that  when  I  was  a  child  it  was  the 
subject  of  conversation  in  a  company  of  the  best  people 
of  the  town  in  my  father's  house.  I  can  recall  the  names 
and  faces  of  some  who  were  present.  I  took  no  part  in 
the  conversation,  and  I  don't  suppose  any  of  the  company 
thought  of  me  as  appreciating  what  they  were  talking 
about,  but  I  did  listen  with  eager  interest.  I  could  relate 
many  other  similar  instances,  among  them  the  discussions, 
I  think,  over  the  renewal  of  the  Woodward  patent  of  the 
machine  for  planing  boards  with  revolving  knives.  I  had 
never  seen  the  machine,  but  from  descriptions  it  seemed 
to  me  a  great  improvement  over  the  hand  jack-plane  I 
had  seen  used.  Trivial  matters  these,  but  important  aa 
showing  how  a  child's  mind  may  be  impressed  by  conver- 
sation he  hears.  The  story  of  how  a  child's  mind  has 
grown  is  of  no  value  unless  he  puts  down  faithfully  the 
things  he  thought  about,  what  he  read,  and  what  he  did. 

I  suppose  I  was  rather  a  precocious  reader  on  political 
questions.  My  father's  position  was  such  that  he  was 
flooded  with  speeches  and  documents  from  Washington. 
I  doubt  whether  a  speech  ever  came  into  the  house  that  I 
did  not  read  with  eager  interest.  I  recall  the  speeches  of 
Clay,  Webster,  Calhoun,  Bell  of  Tennessee,  Smith  of 
Connecticut,  and  many  others.  In  his  canvass  for  the  presi- 
dency in  1844  Clay  had  delivered  a  speech  in  a  town  in 


30  LIFE  OUTSIDE  OF  SCHOOLS 

Illinois,  the  name  of  which  I  have  forgotten.  At  the  close 
of  his  speech,  in  which  he  had  spoken  against  slavery,  a 
Mr.  Mendenhall,  who  was  an  Abolitionist,  asked  him  why 
he  did  not  emancipate  his  own  slaves.  Mr.  Clay  replied 
in  what  my  elders  called  a  masterly  speech,  in  which  he 
showed  that  it  was  perfectly  consistent  for  him  to  oppose 
the  extension  of  slavery  and  yet,  having  inherited  his 
slaves,  and  considering  their  various  ages,  some  very  old, 
some  young,  all  unfitted  to  be  then  turned  out  to  care  for 
themselves,  be  almost  compelled  to  live  in  it,  and  with  it, 
for  a  further  time  at  least.  I  do  not  recall  that  I  read 
this  speech,  but  I  do  recall  that  my  uncle  read  it  aloud, 
and  he  and  my  father  discussed  it  with  great  earnestness. 
In  those  days  I  did  not  discuss  political  questions;  I  only 
listened  to  discussions  with  eager  interest.  For  many 
years  I  kept  all  the  great  speeches  delivered  in  Congress 
in  a  box,  to  be  read  over  and  consulted.  When  I  grew  to 
manhood  it  was  a  trouble  to  take  care  of  them,  and  I 
destroyed  them,  an  act  of  vandalism  I  have  regretted  many 
tunes  since. 

I  have  before  spoken  of  my  love  for  mathematics.  It 
was  not  a  love  for  it;  it  was  a  passion.  I  doubt  if  any  devo- 
tee of  novel-reading  ever  read  novels  with  one-half  the 
interest  and  delight  with  which  I  studied  mathematics 
without  teachers,  and  with  no  other  stimulus  than  mental 
delight.  As  new  channels  in  the  science  opened  before 
me,  I  purchased  the  entire  list  of  text-books  then  in  use 
at  West  Point.  It  seemed  to  me  that  the  course  at  West 
Point  was  the  best  guide  for  me  to  adopt  in  that  line  of 
study.  In  my  school  days  I  had  finished  trigonometry, 
but  I  followed  up  this  line  of  study  with  unabated  zeal  at 
home.  I  was  doing  a  man's  work  on  the  farm,  although 
not  more  than  fifteen  years  of  age.  I  pursued  my  studies 


LIFE  OUTSIDE  OF  SCHOOLS  31 

at  night  and  at  all  odd  times.  My  father  had  a  very  com- 
plete establishment  for  making  maple  sugar  each  spring. 
The  sap  was  boiled  in  a  house  that  was  a  very  comfortable 
place  to  stay  in.  There  was  little  to  do  all  day  except  to 
tend  the  fire ;  and  I  always  used  to  take  my  books  to  the 
woods  and  spend  all  day  there  in  study.  I  recall  one  day, 
while  studying  the  calculus,  on  one  page  encountering  a 
few  lines  of  reasoning  I  could  not  comprehend.  If  I  as- 
sumed the  truth  of  those  few  lines  I  could  go  on  for  pages. 
All  was  clear  before  those  lines  were  reached,  and  all  was 
clear  after  that,  but  the  few  lines  eluded  my  comprehen- 
sion. I  spent  nearly  the  whole  day  over  those  few  lines. 
At  last,  about  four  or  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  I  solved 
the  difficulty.  I  closed  the  book  in  a  high  state  of  nervous 
excitement,  and  went  out  of  doors,  whistled,  shouted, 
kicked  barrels,  and  acted  generally  like  a  lunatic,  all  alone 
in  the  woods.  I  was  wild  with  delight  that  I  had  solved 
the  difficulty.  The  mental  joy  was  something  indescriba- 
ble, and  I  could  not  think  of  looking  into  my  book  again 
that  day.  I  had  never  met  anything  in  mathematics  that 
I  could  not  solve  alone,  and  had  begun  to  fear  I  would 
have  to  acknowledge  defeat.  I  had  considerable  reputa- 
tion as  a  mathematician  in  that  portion  of  the  country,  and 
for  years  it  was  a  common  practice  for  the  seminaries  and 
higher  schools  to  send  me  any  problems  they  could  not 
solve,  or  any  that  they  thought  would  tax  my  ability,  and 
I  never  saw  one  I  could  not  work  out  and  return  a  detailed 
statement  of  my  solution.  I  have  often  thought,  and  still 
think,  that  the  mental  discipline  derived  from  this  study 
was  the  principal  factor  in  developing  such  mental  vigor 
as  I  possess  in  other  lines  of  study  and  investigation. 


CHAPTEK    V 

HABITS   OF   READING 

I  think  the  environments  of  my  early  life  were  particu- 
larly fortunate  to  stimulate  in  me  a  desire  for  reading. 
I  lived  under  the  influence  of  my  family  and  my  native 
town.  In  the  village  there  was  a  female  seminary  of  na- 
tional reputation.  It  was  in  those  days  known  as  the 
Ingham  Seminary,  kept  by  three  sisters  of  that  name.  Its 
patrons  came  from  all  over  the  United  States.  Very  many 
young  ladies  were  educated  there  from  the  Southern  States 
and  from  New  York  City  and  other  cities  of  this  country. 
All  over  this  land  there  are  now  undoubtedly  many  mature 
women  who  were  educated  there.  I  had  two  sisters  edu- 
cated there.  Many  of  the  girls  and  teachers  were  visitors 
at  my  father's  house,  and  once  a  year,  for  many  years,  the 
faculty  and  graduating  class  were  entertained  at  my 
father's  house. 

The  subject  of  education  was  freely  discussed  before 
me,  and  my  mind  was  stimulated  by  the  trend  of  ideas 
that  were  constantly  being  presented. 

The  effect  of  such  an  institution  in  a  town  is  to  attract 
cultivated  people  there,  and  I  think  I  am  justified  in  say- 
ing that  the  village  of  Le  Eoy  contained  many  persons  of 
considerable  cultivation  and  refinement.  I  regard  the 
subtle,  indefinable  influence  of  such  surroundings  as  of 
the  greatest  value  to  me  in  stimulating  my  energies  to 
acquire  knowledge.  I  soon  acquired  a  taste  for  reading. 


HABITS  OF  READING  33 

The  natural  sciences  and  philosophy  were  very  attractive 
to  me.  Literature,  history,  and  poetry  received  a  great 
share  of  my  attention.  There  are  few  of  the  English  and 
American  poets  that  I  did  not  read.  I  have  noticed  a 
change  in  my  tastes  as  to  poetry.  As  the  hard  battle  of 
life  came  on  at  about  the  age  of  twenty-five,  my  love  of 
poetry  seemed  to  wane — my  mind  seems  to  have  hardened, 
so  to  speak — so  that  now,  and  for  many  years  past,  I  have 
had  no  taste  for  such  reading.  I  only  recall  poetry  as  one 
recalls  strains  of  music  heard  long  ago. 

Geology  was  a  very  fascinating  subject  for  me.  I 
watched  with  interest  the  publication  of  each  new  book 
as  it  came  out,  and  read  it  with  absorbing  interest. 
Not  to  mention  others,  I  cannot  help  referring  to  the 
great  Scotchman,  Hugh  Miller.  I  had  become  so  inter- 
ested in  his  works  that  I  had  come  to  regard  him  as  a 
personal  friend.  I  remember  well  the  shock  it  was  to  me 
when  I  heard  of  his  sad  death,  just  after  he  finished  his 
last  great  work,  but  before  it  had  left  the  printer's  hands. 

My  habit  of  reading  was  always  to  have  a  book  at  hand 
at  every  spare  moment  when  not  at  work  on  the  farm  or 
asleep.  In  the  field,  when  ploughing,  I  would  have  with> 
me  a  book  for  reading  when  the  team  was  resting.  I  re- 
call on  one  occasion,  when  reading  an  edition  of  Eng- 
lish translations  of  Greek  literature,  I  became  so  excited 
in  the  subject  of  my  reading  that  I  mounted  a  stump, 
and,  looking  around  to  be  sure  no  human  being  was  in 
sight,  I  delivered  my  first  stump  speech  to  an  imaginary 
audience. 

I  am  afraid  I  was  not  strictly  honest  with  my.  mother. 

On  many  occasions  she  would  call  to  me  in  my  room 

to  put  out  my  light,  pleading  that  I  would  injure  my 

health  sitting  up  reading  so  late,  and  I  would  promise  her 

3 


34  HABITS  OF  READING 

to  put  out  my  light  immediately,  and  would  faithfully  do 
so,  but  when  the  house  was  still  I  would  again  light  up 
and  resume  reading. 

Very  many  years  ago — I  do  not  know  just  when,  nor 
can  I  now  tell  why — I  imposed  upon  myself  the  rule  of 
reading  not  less  than  ten  pages  of  substantial  reading 
matter  each  day.  This  did  not  include  newspapers,  maga- 
zines, or  novels,  nor  any  reading  in  my  legal  profession. 
This  amount  of  substantial  reading  a  day  might  extend 
to  fifty  or  one  hundred  and  fifty,  but  a  minimum  of  ten 
I  have  exacted  of  myself  with  rare  exceptions  to  this  day. 
That  means  3,650  pages  each  year,  and  36,500  in  ten 
years,  or  over  100,000  pages  in  thirty  years.  If  a  person 
was  confronted  with  the  undertaking  of  reading  100,000 
pages  he  would  shrink  from  it,  and  yet  it  is  an  easy  and 
pleasurable  task  if  one  has  system  and  persistence. 

In  the  days  of  my  early  manhood,  before  I  was  twenty 
years  of  age,  the  practice  of  having  courses  of  lectures 
given  by  distinguished  lecturers  was  in  high  favor.  The 
practice  does  not  prevail  now  as  it  did  fifty  years  ago. 
Judging  by  the  effect  of  these  lectures  upon  me,  I  can  but 
think  it  unfortunate  they  are  almost  given  up.  I  recall 
such  lecturers  as  Agassiz,  Horace  Mann,  President  Ander- 
son, and  many  others  who  interested  me  mightily.  I  do 
not  think  the  amount  of  real  knowledge  they  gave  me  was 
very  great,  but  they  were  skilful  guides  to  conduct  me  to 
the  high  peaks  of  knowledge  and  point  out  the  field  to  ex- 
plore. Under  their  inspiring  influence  I  was  stimulated 
to  press  my  inquiries  into  these  new  fields  of  knowledge 
so  alluringly  presented  by  them. 


CHAPTER    VI 

PLANS   OF   LIFE   FORMING 

My  life  up  to  about  twenty  years  of  age  was  in  an  ex- 
ceedingly narrow  circle.  I  worked  on  the  farm,  doing  all 
kinds  of  hard  work  usual  to  that  calling,  but  kept  per- 
sistently at  my  books.  When  I  was  about  fifteen  years 
of  age  the  Rev.  Dr.  Muttoon  came  to  my  native  village 
as  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church.  He  was  a  broad- 
minded,  genial  man,  and  soon  we  became  great  friends. 
He  was  fond  of  fishing  and  hunting,  and  we  followed  the 
streams  and  roamed  the  woods  of  that  country  many  a  day 
for  fish  and  game.  I  believe  his  influence  upon  me  was 
one  of  the  most  important  and  valuable  factors  of  my 
education.  I  can  recall  now  the  many  occasions  when, 
alone  in  the  woods  and  sitting  on  logs  or  stumps  to  rest, 
with  our  guns  leaning  against  trees,  we  would  discuss  some 
new  book  or  some  interesting  subject  until  we  had  rested 
enough  to  resume  our  hunt.  Delightful  days,  full  of  pre- 
cious memories.  Most  important  days  in  my  mental  de- 
velopment as  I  now  estimate  them. 

In  my  early  life  I  never  took  a  long  journey§to  see  or 
know  anything  of  the  world  from  actual  contact>,with  it. 
I  was  over  eighteen  years  of  age  when  I  took  my  first  ride 
on  a  railway  train.  I  lived  in  my  narrow  circle,  and  read 
and  dreamed  of  all  beyond.  Gradually  a  belief  grew  in 
my  mind  that  there  was  something  in  me  that  pointed  to 
a  career  other  than  that  of  a  farmer.  My  fondness  for 


J6  PLANS  OF  LIFE  FORMING 

mathematics  led  me  to  adopt  engineering.  I  purchased 
numerous  books  on  engineering,  outside  of  the  line  of 
pure  mathematics,  and  studied  them  with  great  avidity. 
Finally  I  applied  to  a  Mr.  Miller,  who  had  been  the  engi- 
neer in  charge  of  what  is  now  one  of  the  branches  of  the 
Erie  Railroad,  to  give  me  employment.  This  was  about 
1852.  He  engaged  me  to  go  with  him  as  assistant  to  lay 
out  a  new  road  in  Tennessee.  I  purchased  my  first  "  sole 
leather  "  trunk  and  got  together  my  outfit  for  that  expedi- 
tion, full  of  hope  and  great  expectations  from  my  chosen 
career.  My  father  and  a  brother-in-law,  the  latter  a  law- 
yer and  ex-judge,  advised  against  my  being  an  engineer, 
urging  a  course  of  law  study.  I  strongly  opposed  their 
suggestions,  for  my  heart  was  set  upon  my  chosen  calling. 
The  times  were  unpropitious  for  me.  The  first  financial 
checks  were  beginning  to  be  felt  that  finally  reached  a 
culmination  in  the  great  panic  of  1857.  It  was  difficult 
to  get  capital  to  embark  in  new  enterprises  in  those  days. 
The  country  was  poor  and  was  beginning  to  feel  the  first 
symptoms  of  the  great  collapse.  After  weary  months  of 
waiting  I  yielded  to  the  importunities  of  my  family  and 
went  into  my  brother-in-law's  office  and  began  the  study  of 
law.  When  I  began  study  it  was  with  the  firm  resolve 
that  I  never  would  practise  law,  but  I  felt  that  a  knowl- 
edge of  law  would  aid  me  in  my  chosen  calling.  For  four 
years  I  read  law,  never  for  one  moment  intending  to  inake 
law  my  profession.  During  my  law  course  I  procured  a 
theodolite  of  moderate  completeness  and  held  myself  out 
aa  an  engineer  and  surveyor.  I  soon  became  the  recog- 
nized surveyor  for  parts  of  Genesee  and  Livingston  coun- 
ties. I  don't  know  whether  it  was  my  ability  or  the  im- 
posing appearance  of  my  instrument  that  gained  me  my 
reputation.  The  farmers  of  that  country  had  never  seen 


PLANS  OP  LIFE  FORMING  37 

such  an  instrument  before,  and  by  its  aid  I  settled  all 
boundary  claims  so  effectually  that  I  never  heard  of  a  liti- 
gation or  review  of  any  case  that  I  surveyed.  During  the 
five  years  of  my  practice  of  law  in  Le  Roy  and  for  some 
years  after  I  began  practice  in  New  York  City,  when 
home  on  my  summer  vacation,  I  was  applied  to  to  settle 
boundary  and  highway  questions  in  that  country.  My 
moderate  charges  for  surveying  while  studying  law  paid 
all  my  expenses  of  living.  In  May,  1856,  in  Buffalo,  I 
was  admitted  to  practise  law. 

It  was  with  commendable  pride  that  I  went  home  to  the 
old  farmhouse  and  exhibited  my  certificate  to  my  father. 
He  examined  the  same  with  great  pleasure.  All  through 
my  law  studies  I  reasoned  with  myself  that  I  would  not 
stop  short  of  being  admitted  to  practise,  but  that  after 
that  I  would  turn  to  my  first  love,  engineering.  To  have 
stopped  short  of  being  admitted  as  a  lawyer  would  have 
wounded  my  pride,  so  I  said  to  myself  time  and  again  I 
will  not  stop  short  of  that  goal.  After  that  no  more  law 
for  me.  Being  admitted,  I  was  brought  face  to  face  with 
my  resolution  never  to  practise  law.  What  to  do  now  was 
the  question,  and  long  and  earnestly  was  it  debated.  The 
financial  condition  of  the  country  had  grown  steadily  worse 
and  worse  during  all  my  course  of  law  study.  The  chances 
for  an  engagement  as  an  engineer  were  much  more  re- 
mote than  ever.  I  could  find  no  chance  to  work  in  my 
favorite  profession.  For  about  six  months,  from  May  to 
the  following  autumn,  I  debated  with  myself  and  tried  to 
find  some  way  to  escape  from  entering  upon  the  practice 
of  law.  I  finally  effected  a  compromise  with  myself  that 
I  would  enter  upon  the  practice  of  law,  follow  it  for  a  few 
years,  win  some  spurs  to  show  that  I  could  be  a  lawyer, 
then  leave  that  profession  and  take  up  engineering.  I  do 

185280 


:.*  PLANS  OP  LIFE  FORMING 

not  tlriuk  I  could  ever  have  brought  myself  to  put  out  a 
sign  if  I  had  then  believed  I  was  to  be  a  lawyer  all  my 
life,  and  that  my  favorite  profession  was  never  to  be  fol- 
lowed by  me,  I  remember  well  the  reluctance  with  which 
I  saw  the  little  black  sign  with  gilt  letters  nailed  up,  which 
read  "KB.  Hinsdale,  Attorney-at-Law."  It  was  bright 
and  new,  and  looked  well  with  the  signs  of  other 
lawyers  in  the  building.  1  was  more  sorry  than  glad 
that  I  had  decided  as  I  did,  but  the  die  had  been 
cats*,  and  I  consoled  myself  with  the  thought  that  two  or 
three  years  would  bring  me  to  the  end  of  this  experiment, 
and  then  a  chance  would  surely  come  for  me  to  be  an  engi- 
neer. Having  once  entered  upon  the  practice  of  law,  I 
worked  with  all  my  energies.  I  commenced  business  in 
the  autumn  of  1856.  The  year  of  1857  was  the  year  of 
the  great  failures  all  over  the  country.  It  naturally  threw 
upon  lawyers  a  great  deal  of  business,  and  there  fell  to 
my  lot  about  all  I  could  attend  to.  I  was  faithful  in  study- 
ing every  question  presented.  I  remember  one  night, 
when  I  had  an  important  case  to  attend  to  the  next  day, 
I  spent  all  night  in  the  office.  Towards  morning  I  piled 
up  law  books  on  the  table  to  rest  my  head  on,  and 
later  slept  on  the  table.  The  next  day  I  was  prepared 
on  my  law  and  won  my  case.  I  followed  my  profes- 
sion five  years  in  my  native  village,  and  as  I  be- 
came more  and  more  involved  in  business  my  interest 
in  the  profession  increased  until  the  dream  and  hope  of 
being  an  engineer  faded  from  my  mind.  I  have  often 
wondered  whether  the  reluctant  decision  to  practise  law 
was  a  wise  decision  or  a  colossal  blunder.  I  think  my  case- 
is  a  rare  one,  where  a  man  has  followed  a  profession  for 
life  that  he  was  fully  resolved  never  to  follow  while  pre- 
paring for  it,  and  determined  to  abandon  in  the  first 


PLANS  OF  LIFE  FORMING  3ft 

few  years  of  its  practice.  I  believe  iny  mathematical 
studies  have  been  of  the  greatest  value  to  me  in  my  legal 
studies  and  have  served  me  a  good  purpose.  On  the 
whole,  it  has  been  one  of  the  greatest  regrets  of  my  life 
that  I  did  not  adhere  to  the  clear  trend  of  my  mind. 

It  seems  to  me  that  in  the  field  of  the  great  material 
advance  that  has  been  going  on  in  this  country  for  the 
last  forty  years,  I  should  have  found  employment  as  an 
engineer  more  congenial  to  my  tastes  than  I  have  found 
the  legal  profession. 


CHAPTEK   VII 

FIVE    YEAES   OF   COUNTET   PEACTICB 

The  life  of  a  young  country  lawyer  is  one  of  peculiar 
interest.  He  is  obliged  to  deal  with  every  imaginable 
question  that  comes  up.  There  are  some,  not  many,  im- 
portant litigations.  There  are  many  litigations  of  minor 
importance  as  these  things  are  estimated  in  large  cities, 
but  these  litigations  are  of  great  importance  in  rural  com- 
munities. The  young  lawyer  must  take  part  in  the  poli- 
tics of  the  country  if  he  hopes  to  have  any  standing  there. 
All  social  questions  and  educational  matters  must  receive 
a  share  of  his  attention.  If  he  is  so  inclined,  he  finds  a 
field  for  his  activity  in  the  religious  movements  of  his 
community.  It  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  retained  on 
one  side  of  nearly  all  the  most  important  litigations  of  my 
native  town.  There  were  but  few  such  cases  in  my  five 
years  of  practice,  and  I  had  time  to  study  them  most  ex- 
haustively, and  I  think  I  can  fairly  claim  to  have  been 
thorough  in  my  preparation  in  each  case.  I  remember  a 
feeling  that  if  I  studied  long  enough  I  ought  to  bring 
every  question  of  law  to  a  mathematical  certainty.  My 
mind  had  been  so  trained  to  seek  a  solution  of  a  question 
that  could  not  be  assailed  that  it  seemed  to  me  there  must 
be  some  ultimate  certain  knowledge  down  in  the  depth  of 
the  law  that  my  mind  could  safely  rest  upon  as  unassail- 
able. At  last  it  dawned  upon  me  that  the  law  is  not  an 
exact  science.  The  infirmity  of  language,  and  the  ever- 


FIVE  YEARS  OF  COUNTRY  PRACTICE  41 

changing  events  and  circumstances  of  life  and  business, 
render  it  impobsible  for  the  human  mind  to  put  in  words 
rules  specific  enough  and  broad  enough  to  meet  all  the 
conditions  that  are  constantly  arising  in  this  complex  life 
of  ours.  It  was  not  easy  for  me  to  get  my  mind  out  of 
the  field  of  absolute  certainty  of  mathematics  into  the  field 
of  only  high  probability,  which  is  about  as  far  as  any 
lawyer  can  go.  The  struggle  did  me  good  and  laid  the 
foundation  for  such  success  as  attended  me  in  after  life. 
Among  my  experiences  in  the  country,  I  am  often 
amused  to  reflect  upon  a  "  horse  trade  case  "  before  a 
country  justice  of  the  peace.  It  was  generally  a  charge 
of  cheating  as  to  age  or  soundness  of  the  horse.  It  is  not 
easy  to  account  for  the  widespread  interest  in  such  an 
action.  The  farmers  and  idlers  would  always  gather  in 
great  numbers  and  listen  with  interest  to  the  progress  of 
the  suit.  The  justice  of  the  peace  evidently  felt  that  it 
was  an  important  event  in  his  official  career.  To  the 
young  lawyer  it  was  to  win  fame  if  he  succeeded.  The 
"  horse  doctor,"  who  was  generally  a  keen,  wary  fellow, 
was  a  witness  on  each  side,  and  the  skill  shown  by  the 
young  lawyer  in  handling  him  on  a  cross-examination 
would  fix  his  rank  as  a  lawyer  in  the  estimation  of  the 
crowd  of  idlers.  These  suits  would  often  last  all  day  and 
long  into  the  evening.  Feeling  would  run  high,  and  the 
encounter  would  long  be  a  subject  of  conversation  and 
criticism.  I  imagine  this  State  has  many  lawyers  who 
have  held  high  rank  in  forensic  debate  or  adorned  the 
bench  with  learning  and  skill,  and  who  can  recall  the  time 
when  they  first  tried  their  powers  as  lawyers  on  a  country 
"  horse  case."  In  fact  I  have  heard  the  expression  that  to 
try  a  "  horse  case  "  is  an  essential  part  of  a  lawyer's  educa- 
tion in  the  country. 


42  FIVE  YEARS  OF  COUNTRY  PRACTICE 

In  1853  or  1854,  while  I  was  a  law  student,  the  Repub- 
lican  party  was  organized  in  Genesee  County.  I  volun- 
teered to  canvass  two  towns  of  the  county  for  names  for 
a  call  to  a  mass  meeting  to  be  held  at  Batavia,  the  county 
seat.  I  drove  from  house  to  house  and  explained  the 
object  of  the  movement.  The  meeting  was  held,  and  was 
addressed  by  John  P.  Hale,  of  New  Hampshire.  Reso- 
lutions were  passed  forming  a  county  committee,  and  the 
party  was  launched  for  that  county.  I  imagine  I  am 
among  the  few  survivors  who  took  an  active  part  in  the 
organization  of  the  Republican  party.  Many  survive  who 
joined  it  when  organized. 

I  took  an  active  part  in  the  politics  of  my  country.  No 
one  who  did  not  live  through  the  intensely  interesting  and 
exciting  period  from  1850  to  1860  that  preceded  the  rebel- 
lion can  realize  the  universal  interest  in  political  ques- 
tions. The  feeling  that  the  government  was  being  under- 
mined in  the  interest  of  slavery  wrought  up  sentiment  to 
a  high  pitch.  All  wanted  to  keep  within  the  Constitution, 
and  yet  it  seemed  impossible  to  beat  back  the  aggressions 
of  slavery  or  meet  the  subtle  argument  put  forward  to 
support  the  institution.  The  editor  of  the  local  paper  in 
my  town  sometimes  would  go  out  of  town  and  leave  me 
to  edit  his  paper,  and  often  asked  me  to  write  for  it  when 
he  was  in  town.  I  have  preserved  but  one  of  those  early 
efforts  at  newspaper  writing.  I  chanced  to  find  it  with 
some  old  papers  a  few  years  ago  and  kept  it.  I  have 
inserted  the  article  as  one  of  my  papers  in  this  volume 
to  show  the  trend  of  my  feelings  at  that  time.  It  is  en- 
titled "  Northern  Interference  with  Slavery,"  published 
in  the  "  Le  Roy  Gazette,"  May  27,  1857. 

In  1860  the  last  great  political  contest  came  on  between 
the  North  and  South  before  the  clash  of  arms.  Western 


FIVE  YEARS  OF  COUNTRY  PRACTICE  43 

New  York  was  intensely  in  favor  of  William  H.  Seward 
as  the  candidate  of  the  Republican  party.  When  the  news 
reached  us  that  Lincoln  had  been  nominated  at  Chicago, 
the  first  feeling  was  that  of  intense  sorrow  and  disappoint- 
ment. I  was  on  my  \vay  to  Buffalo,  and  had  gotten  as 
far  as  Batavia  when  the  news  reached  me.  I  turned  my 
face  to  the  window  so  that  passengers  should  not  see  my 
tears.  I  felt  that  the  cause  was  lost,  as  I  did  not  think 
that  Lincoln  could  carry  the  State  of  New  York.  I  found 
that  almost  all  Republicans  with  whom  I  talked  felt  as  I 
did.  It  took  some  weeks  to  get  over  the  stunning  blow 
to  our  hopes.  Our  favorite  had  been  beaten  and  our  great 
cause  lost.  We  had  a  very  high  estimate  of  Mr.  Lincoln, 
but  doubted  his  ability  to  lead  his  party  to  success  at  that 
time  and  to  deal  with  the  great  issues  then  before  us. 
After  the  sorrow  and  disappointment  had  worn  off,  we 
gave  Mr.  Lincoln  a  loyal,  hearty  support.  I  was  made 
chairman  of  the  Genesee  County  Central  Committee  and 
took  charge  of  the  canvass  for  that  county.  I  spent  prac- 
tically all  my  time  for  three  months  before  the  election  in 
working  for  the  success  of  the  ticket.  The  county  gave 
over  five  hundred  more  majority  for  Lincoln  than  was 
estimated  by  the  State  Committee.  I  was  the  youngest 
man  that  had  ever  held  that  position  in  the  county,  and 
the  State  Committee,  during  the  canvass  and  after  the 
results,  expressed  great  satisfaction  with  my  work.  Be- 
fore the  canvass  closed  we  all  became  most  enthusiastic 
supporters  of  Lincoln. 

In  1859  I  was  a  candidate  for  county  judge  of  Grenesee 
County.  In  the  convention  to  nominate  the  candidate  I 
was  defeated  by  one  vote,  and  that  vote  came  from  my  na- 
tive town.  The  delegate  had  been  elected  upon  the  distinct 
issue  of  my  candidacy.  Various  explanations  were  given 


44  FIVE  YEARS  OF  COUNTRY  PRACTICE 

at  the  time  for  this  treachery.  The  most  charitable  one 
for  me  to  give  now,  although  I  did  not  hear  of  it  at  the 
time,  is  that  he  doubted  my  fitness  for  the  place.  It  was 
a  great  disappointment  to  me.  At  that  time  in  that  county 
&  nomination  by  the  Republicans  was  equivalent  to  an 
election.  I  have  often  speculated  as  to  what  would  have 
been  my  career  had  I  been  elected  a  county  judge  at  that 
early  age.  My  present  belief  is  that  my  defeat  was  one 
of  the  fortunate  events  of  my  life.  I  did  not  know  it  then, 
but  I  was  gradually  coming  to  the  parting  of  the  ways, 
when  I  should  remove  to  New  York  City.  My  professional 
career  in  my  native  county  was  brief,  but  long  enough 
to  gain  much  valuable  experience.  It  was  successful  as 
county  practice  goes,  but  the  opportunities  were  limited, 
as  well  as  the  emoluments.  I  began  to  think  about  an- 
other field  of  endeavor.  I  vacillated  between  New  York 
and  Chicago,  and  finally,  in  1861,  determined  to  try  New 
York. 

Before  closing  the  story  of  my  country  life  I  should 
state  that  for  many  years  I  was  secretary  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  of  Le  Roy.  This  work  began 
about  the  time  I  began  the  study  of  law. 

Among  the  things  we  did  was  to  have  yearly  a  most 
excellent  course  of  lectures.  I  took  great  interest  in  this 
course,  and  corresponded  with  most  of  the  great  lecturers 
of  that  period.  We  secured  the  services  of  such  men  as 
Horace  Mann,  Wendell  Phillips,  Elihu  Burritt,  Dr.  Lord, 
Mr.  Beecher,  Dr.  Milborn,  Dr.  Cox,  and  many  others  of 
like  rank.  I  was  thrown  into  personal  relations  with  those 
men,  and  recall  to  this  day  the  many  delightful  conversa- 
tions I  had  with  them.  Elihu  Burritt  was  a  relative  of 
the  family.  His  mother  was  a  Hinsdale,  cousin  of  my 
father.  ^ 


FIVE  YEARS  OF  COUNTRY  PRACTICE  45 

Mr.  Burritt  was  interested  in  the  subject  of  compen- 
sated emancipation  of  the  slaves.  He  was  engaged  in  a 
scheme  of  organizing  all  over  the  Northern  States  soci- 
eties to  advocate  his  doctrines.  He  desired  me  to  repre- 
sent his  views  in  my  part  of  the  State,  and  I  entered  into 
his  plans  with  enthusiasm.  Events  moved  too  fast  for  us. 
We  carried  on  a  pretty  vigorous  correspondence  for  a  time; 
but  the  war  came  on,  and  no  one  would  think  of  com- 
pensated emancipation  then.  The  institution  was  to  be 
wiped  out  in  blood  and  combat.  How  much  cheaper  and 
better  it  would  have  been  if  calm  reason  could  have  pre- 
vailed and  the  whole  nation — North  and  South — could 
have  been  brought  to  see  that  the  institution  was  doomed 
to  go,  either  peacefully  or,  as  it  did  in  war,  at  a  vastly 
greater  cost  in  money  to  the  whole  nation,  with  the  added 
horrors  of  war  and  loss  of  lives ! 


CHAPTER  VIII 

REMOVAL   TO   NEW   YORK 

Haying  resolved  to  try  my  fortune  in  the  great  city 
of  New  York,  I  was  confronted  with  the  very  serious  ques- 
tion of  how  to  introduce  myself.  I  could  only  recall  two 
men  in  the  city  that  I  had  ever  met  before,  and  they  were 
merchants  in  moderate  positions  who  could  do  little  for 
me,  even  if  they  were  so  disposed.  I  had  no  money,  and 
the  means  of  a  livelihood  was  a  matter  of  immediate  im- 
portance. Modesty  makes  me  hesitate  in  disclosing  the 
experiment  I  resorted  to,  but  as  this  whole  story  is  a  con- 
fidential talk  with  family  and  friends,  I  will  venture  upon 
a  full  disclosure  of  my  plans.  No  one  who  has  not  con- 
fronted the  problem  of  breaking  into  a  learned  profession 
in  a  great  city  without  friends  or  money  can  comprehend 
the  difficulty  of  the  undertaking.  I  felt  sure  of  the  posi- 
tion I  had  gained  in  my  profession  in  five  years  in  the 
seventh  and  eighth  judicial  districts  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  which  embrace  all  of  Western  New  York.  How 
to  avail  myself  of  this  vantage  ground  in  the  great  and 
unknown  metropolis  was  the  question  that  confronted  me. 

To  speak  of  myself  was  intolerable  and  unavailing.  I 
hit  upon  the  expedient  of  asking  each  judge  and  business 
man  that  I  applied  to  to  give  me  a  letter  in  his  own  lan- 
guage, such  as  he  felt  justified  in  writing.  I  refused  to 
write  a  recommendation  of  myself  for  them  to  sign.  In 
some  instances  the  judges  asked  to  see  what  some  of  their 


REMOVAL  TO  NEW  YORK  47 

brothers  had  written,  and  I  showed  them  the  letters.  The 
result  was  a  very  nattering  series  of  letters,  copies  of  which 
are  printed  herewith.  I  was  very  much  affected  and 
encouraged  by  my  conversations  with  this  noble  body  of 
judges,  all  of  whom  are  now  dead  except  Noah  Davis,  who 
was  afterwards  so  long  presiding  justice  of  the  General 
Term  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  city  of  New  York. 
I  procured  letters  of  introduction  to  a  number  of  lawyers 
in  New  York,  and,  armed  with  those  papers,  in  the  early 
summer  of  1861  I  visited  New  York  to  see  if  I  could  find 
an  opening  before  closing  up  my  country  business.  For- 
tune seemed  to  favor  me,  for  I  soon  was  introduced  to  Mr. 
John  W.  Mitchell  and  his  son,  who  had  a  very  considerable 
amount  of  business,  in  which  they  sadly  needed  help. 
They  were  not  careful  practitioners,  and  their  business 
had  fallen  into  great  confusion.  I  entered  into  an  equal 
partnership  with  them  under  the  firm  name  of  "  Mitchells 
&  Hinsdale."  I  returned  to  my  native  town,  closed  up  my 
business,  and  on  September  1st  returned  to  New  York  and 
began  the  practice  of  law.  For  the  first  six  months  I  made 
more  motions  in  the  Supreme  Court  to  correct  errors  in 
the  practice  of  my  partners  that  I  found  in  their  papers 
than  I  have  ever  made  in  my  own  practice  of  nearly  forty 
years.  I  found  myself  immediately  with  about  all  the 
business  I  could  attend  to,  some  of  the  cases  of  great  im- 
portance and  bitterly  contested  for  years.  It  was  upon 
this  foundation  that  my  modest  career  as  a  lawyer  in  New 
York  City  began.  I  do  not  propose  to  say  much  about  my 
experiences  in  New  York  as  a  lawyer;  they  have  not  been 
materially  different  from  those  of  thousands  of  other  law- 
yers. It  is  probable  that  I  have  been  more  fortunate  twice 
in  my  life  than  most  lawyers.  When  I  began  my  country 
practice  it  was  in  1856,  just  before  the  great  financial  col- 


48  REMOVAL  TO  NEW  YORK 

lapse  of  1857,  and  I  at  once  drifted  into  an  unusually 
important  practice  for  the  country.  Again,  when  I  came 
to  New  York  I  began  as  an  equal  partner  in  an  old  firm 
with  considerable  business.  I  have  never  been  a  clerk 
in  a  law  office,  and  from  the  first  have  had  a  reasonably 
good  Supreme  Court  practice.  I  have  had  very  little  ex- 
perience in  inferior  courts,  and  have  never  had  to  resort 
to  doubtful  expedients  to  get  clients.  I  have  never  been 
without  considerable  important  business,  and  have  often 
seen  the  time  when  I  wanted  more.  My  rank  as  a  lawyer 
must  be  determined  by  the  brethren  of  the  bench  and  bar. 
All  I  can  say  is  I  have  often  been  pitted  against  the  ablest 
men  of  the  State  in  many  important  litigations.  When  I 
came  to  New  York  I  had  no  idea  of  being  anything  but  a 
general  practitioner.  In  the  spring  of  1862  a  gentleman 
asked  me  to  go  to  his  country  place  in  Flushing  to  spend 
the  night.  I  had  never  heard  of  the  place  then,  but  he 
gave  me  minute  directions  where  to  meet  him,  and  I  went 
there  to  spend  one  night.  I  liked  the  place,  and  subse- 
quently took  up  my  residence  there.  I  have  mentioned 
this  trivial  incident  because  of  its  tremendous  effect  upon 
my  whole  professional  career.  Soon  after  I  took  up  my 
residence  in  Flushing,  I  drifted  into  some  railroad  litiga- 
tion in  which  I  was  against  the  railroad  company.  Soon 
thereafter  those  interested  in  the  railroad  employed  me. 
One  step  led  to  another,  the  details  of  which  would  be  un- 
interesting, but  in  the  course  of  time  I  became  counsel 
for  all  the  railroads  on  Long  Island,  a  position  I  held  for 
several  of  the  roads  first,  and  finally  for  them  all  for 
twenty-five  years. 

The  greater  part  of  my  professional  life  was  spent  in 
the  service  of  that  company ;  in  short,  I  became  a  corpora- 
tion lawyer  without  any  original  plan  to  be  one.  I  did 


REMOVAL  TO  NEW  YORK  49 

not  know  a  human  being  on  Long  Island,  and  had  no  plan 
or  purpose  to  link  the  best  part  of  my  life  to  the  interests 
of  that  island.  The  seemingly  unimportant  acceptance  of 
an  invitation  to  spend  one  night  with  my  friend  was  the 
beginning  of  the  most  important  part  of  my  professional 
career.  How  difficult  it  is  to  distinguish  at  the  time  the 
important  events  of  life  from  the  unimportant !  If  I  had 
not  accepted  this  invitation  to  visit,  and  so  drifted  as  I 
did  on  to  Long  Island,  I  suppose  some  other  event  would 
have  sent  me  in  some  other  direction  with  a  vastly  different 
result. 

When  I  first  came  to  the  city  I  was  at  once  put  in  charge 
of  a  case  that  had  then  been  in  progress  five  years.  The 
questions  involved  were  the  construction  of  a  trust  deed 
executed  about  1820  and  an  accounting  under  it.  The 
accounting  was  in  progress  when  I  went  into  the  case. 
The  case  had  been  before  ex-Chancellor  Kent  as  referee. 
He  died,  and  at  the  time  I  refer  to  it  was  pending  before 
ex-Judge  William  Mitchell  as  referee.  This  case  illus- 
trates one  of  the  occasional  experiences  of  a  lawyer  in 
dealing  with  trust  deeds.  The  litigation  lasted  for  twenty 
years  after  I  got  into  it.  The  judges  could  never  agree 
as  to  the  construction  of  the  trust  deeds.  A  success  on 
either  side  either  way  was  sure  to  be  reversed  or  mate- 
rially modified  by  a  higher  court.  The  successes  were 
about  equally  divided  between  the  two  sides.  At  last  the 
case  came  up  for  a  trial  on  the  merits  for  the  third  time. 
The  original  parties  to  the  action  were  all  dead;  others 
had  been  substituted  on  each  side;  the  witnesses  were 
dead;  the  lawyers  originally  in  the  case,  except  one,  were 
dead.  The  amount  of  property  was  considerable  for  those 
days.  At  that  stage  of  the  legal  game  the  conclusion  was 
reached  that  it  was  a  proper  case  for  a  settlement — a  mani- 
4 


50  REMOVAL  TO  NEW  YORK 

festation  of  wisdom  that  ought  to  have  appealed  to  some- 
body in  the  first  instance. 

The  most  important  litigation  that  I  was  ever  connected 
with  was  that  to  establish  the  right  of  the  Long  Island 
Railroad  Company  to  build  and  operate  a  railroad  along 
Atlantic  Avenue  for  four  miles,  down  into  the  heart  of  the 
city  of  Brooklyn.  Actions  were  brought  in  the  Supreme 
Court,  the  City  Court  of  Brooklyn,  and  the  United  States 
Court  to  restrain  the  work  of  the  railroad  company.  One 
of  these  actions  was  brought  by  the  attorney-general  of 
the  State  of  New  York.  The  actions  were  five  in  number 
and  severely  contested.  The  litigation  lasted  about  ten 
years,  and  in  its  various  aspects  came  before  a  great  num- 
ber of  judges  in  the  three  courts,  including  the  judges  of 
the  Court  of  Appeals.  I  had  principal  charge  of  the  de- 
fence, and  never  on  a  motion  or  trial  suffered  one  defeat. 
The  road  is  operated  to-day,  and  has  been  for  over  twenty- 
five  years,  exactly  as  I  originally  advised  its  construction 
and  operation. 

In  the  summer  of  1871  I  formed  a  partnership  with 
Edward  E.  Sprague,  then  a  young  lawyer  recently  gradu- 
ated from  the  Harvard  Law  School.  This  partnership 
lasted  for  about  twenty-two  years,  under  the  firm  name 
of  "  Hinsdale  &  Sprague."  I  have  always  regarded  this 
partnership  as  fortunate  for  me.  Mr.  Sprague  developed 
into  a  lawyer  of  fine  abilities.  During  the  entire  term  we 
never  had  one  word  of  personal  differences.  I  think  I  can 
truthfully  say  that  our  relations  were  not  only  agreeable 
in  a  business  way,  but  there  grew  up  a  feeling  of  real 
affection  for  each  other  that  abides  to  this  day.  When 
the  time  came  that  it  was  best  to  separate,  it  seemed  like 
a  separation  in  a  family. 

When  I  was  a  law  student  there  was  one  older  lawyer 


REMOVAL  TO  NEW  YORK  51 

in  the  office  who  seemed  to  take  delight  in  nagging  me 
and  saying  all  kinds  of  mean  and  critical  things  about  me. 
Those  sayings  have  rankled  in  my  mind  to  this  day,  and 
I  remember  well  often  going  home  at  night  gnashing  my 
teeth  with  anger  at  some  mean  fling  he  had  given  me. 
I  don't  think  now  that  he  realized  how  he  hurt  me. 
It  gave  me  a  lesson  I  have  never  forgotten,  and  I  resolved 
never  to  inflict  such  pain  on  a  young  man.  I  have  made 
it  a  rule  with  all  the  young  men  about  me  to  treat  them 
kindly,  never  to  speak  harshly  of  their  faults,  and  the 
result  has  been  that  I  have  had  men  in  my  employ  for 
terms  of  ten  and  fifteen  years  or  longer  who  have  been 
devoted  to  my  interest,  and  our  relations  have  been  most 
kindly.  My  service  has  been  good,  and  our  relations  have 
been  most  agreeable. 

It  is  a  great  pleasure  now,  in  the  full  maturity  of  life, 
to  recall  the  long  list  of  faithful  men  I  have  had  in  my 
service. 


CHAPTER  IX 

PUBLIC    QUESTIONS 

In  the  course  of  my  life  I  have  had  something  to  do 
with  important  public  questions.  In  1863,  just  before 
the  draft  riots,  excitement  ran  high  in  Xew  York  City. 
The  Democratic  papers  of  the  "  Copperhead  stripe  "  had 
most  persistently  declared  that  the  conscription  law  of 
the  federal  government  was  unconstitutional.  They  con- 
stantly proclaimed  that  it  was  an  illegal  act;  that  the 
government  was  going  to  put  it  through  in  violation  of 
the  rights  of  the  citizens.  They  kept  up  this  clamor  until 
the  city  was  on  the  verge  of  the  terrible  riots  of  1863. 
Loyal  men  who  had  not  examined  the  subject  were  at  their 
wits'  end  to  answer  the  claims  of  the  "  Copperheads." 
One  morning  one  of  the  truest  and  best  men  I  ever  knew, 
Frederick  A.  Potts,  touched  me  on  the  shoulder  and  asked 
me  to  tell  him  honestly,  as  a  lawyer,  if  I  thought  there 
was  anything  in  the  claim  of  the  unconstitutionality  of  the 
conscription  law.  I  told  him  that  I.  did  not  think  there 
was,  but  that  I  would  look  the  matter  up.  It  alarmed  me 
to  find  that  the  persistent  false  claim  was  being  felt  by 
the  best  men  in  the  loyal  party.  I  at  once  locked  myself 
in  my  library,  and  spent  the  whole  day  preparing  the 
article  printed  in  this  volume  among  my  papers  entitled 
"  Constitutionality  of  the  Conscription."  About  six  o'clock 
that  evening  I  handed  it  to  Mr.  England,  then  one  of  the 
editors  on  the  New  York  "  Tribune."  The  article  ap- 


PUBLIC  QUESTIONS  63 

peared  the  next  morning  (July  22,  1863)  as  an  editorial 
in  that  paper.  The  following  morning  the  "  World  "  and 
the  "  Express  "  newspapers  devoted  columns  to  answering 
the  article. 

Some  years  after  the  war  I  became  acquainted  with  a 
gentleman  connected  with  the  "  World."  I  asked  him 
if  he  recalled  the  controversy.  He  said  he  did  very  well. 
He  expressed  great  surprise  when  I  told  him  I  wrote  the 
"  Tribune  "  editorial.  He  said  it  took  them  all  by  sur- 
prise in  the  "  World  "  office,  and  created  great  excitement 
there.  They  had  concluded  that  the  paper  must  have 
emanated  from  the  State  Department  at  Washington,  and 
they  had  at  once  sent  for  an  eminent  constitutional  lawyer 
to  prepare  their  reply  to  it.  Only  those  who  lived  through 
those  exciting  days  can  realize  how  high  feeling  ran. 
From  what  I  heard  at  the  time,  I  infer  the  views  I  pre- 
sented were  of  great  service  in  strengthening  the  opinions 
of  loyal  men  and  furnishing  them  with  the  data  for  argu- 
ments with  the  disloyal  element. 

Prior  to  1883  the  subject  of  new  parks  in  the  city  of 
New  York  had  received  a  great  amount  of  public  atten- 
tion. The  legislature  had  authorized  the  appointment 
of  a  commission  to  lay  out  parks  and  parkways.  Luther 
R.  Marsh  was  chairman  of  that  commission.  The  com- 
mission had  reported  to  the  legislature  plans  for  laying  out 
the  Van  Eensselaer  Park,  the  Bronx  Park,  the  Pelham  Bay 
Park,  and  other  smaller  parks,  with  the  broad  drives  be- 
tween them,  as  those  parks  and  driveways  are  now  located 
in  the  twenty-third  and  twenty-fourth  wards  of  Xew  York 
City.  In  1884  the  legislature  adopted  the  report  of  the 
commission,  and  provided  for  proceedings  to  acquire  the 
property.  At  this  stage  of  the  proceedings  a  movement  was 
begun  to  defeat  the  whole  scheme  of  park  improvements. 


54 

Articles  began  to  appear  in  the  newspapers  asking  for  a  re- 
peal of  the  whole  legislation  on  that  subject.  Mr.  Grace 
was  then  mayor  of  the  city  of  New  York,  and  he  seemed 
to  head  the  opposition.  So  much  sentiment  was  worked  up 
against  the  measure  that  a  large  public  meeting  was  held 
in  Cooper  Union,  under  the  auspices  of  the  mayor,  to  de- 
nounce the  plan  and  influence  repeal  legislation  in  Albany. 
One  of  the  great  arguments  used  was  that  the  constitu- 
tional debt  limit  had  been  reached  by  the  city,  and  no  bonds 
could  be  issued  by  the  city  to  pay  for  the  improvements ; 
that  if  the  improvements  went  on,  the  whole  amount,  about 
$10,000,000  it  was  alleged,  would  have  to  be  put  into  the 
annual  tax  budget.  This  line  of  argument  was  urged  to 
alarm  taxpayers.  Legal  opinions  were  obtained  to  sus- 
tain this  view.  At  this  stage  I  was  called  in  to  examine 
the  question.  I  went  to  the  City  Hall  and  examined 
every  ordinance  affecting  the  powers  of  the  Sinking  Fund 
Commissioners,  procured  numerous  reports  from  the  comp- 
troller, and  prepared  the  opinion  on  the  status  of  the  city 
debt  published  herewith,  entitled  "  New  Parks."  Thou- 
sands of  copies  of  this  opinion  were  published  and  circu- 
lated throughout  the  city.  It  seemed  to  allay  public  ap- 
prehension in  the  city,  but  the  opponents  of  the  parks  did 
not  abate  their  efforts  to  secure  adverse  legislation  at  Al- 
bany. I  was  employed  to  present  the  views  of  the  friends 
of  the  parks  before  the  Judiciary  Committee  of  the  Senate 
and  Assembly.  The  opponents  of  the  parks  were  de- 
feated there.  The  question  of  the  power  of  the  city  to 
issue  these  park  bonds  was  again  raised  in  the  courts,  and 
was  finally  put  to  rest  in  the  Court  of  Appeals,  that  court 
adopting  substantially  my  views.  I  have  always  regarded 
with  a  great  deal  of  satisfaction  and  pleasure  my  connec- 
tion with  the  acquisition  of  these  parks  at  the  critical 


PUBLIC  QUESTIONS  55 

time  when  they  seemed  in  danger.  ~No  one  to-day  would 
think  for  one  moment  of  giving  them  up,  and  future 
generations  will  bless  those  men  who  by  their  foresight 
and  persistence  secured  them  forever  to  the  city.  I  claim 
no  credit  for  myself,  except  in  helping  to  save  them  when 
there  were  powerful  influences  at  work  to  defeat  the  grand 
improvement.  It  is  an  unusual  thing  to  state  for  one  who 
took  an  active  part  in  finally  saving  the  parks  to  the  city, 
that  I  have  never  visited  the  parks  or  seen  the  driveways 
since  they  have  been  acquired  and  improved  by  the  city. 
I  hope  some  time  to  make  an  excursion  through  them. 

For  several  years  before  1887  the  subject  of  "  land 
transfer  reform  "  in  the  city  of  New  York  had  received 
the  serious  consideration  of  lawyers  and  real  estate  men. 
The  old  system  of  registration  had  broken  down  by  reason 
of  the  large  extent  of  the  city  and  the  multitude  of  trans- 
actions to  be  recorded  and  examined.  All  agreed  that  a  re- 
form was  absolutely  necessary.  Mr.  Dwight  H.  Olmsted, 
a  lawyer  of  eminence,  must  always  have  the  chief  credit 
for  working  up  this  reform.  It  was  through  him  that  I 
became  interested  in  the  subject.  There  were  two  meth- 
ods only  under  consideration — the  details  of  which  it  does 
not  concern  this  autobiography  to  explain — one  known  as 
the  block  system,  the  other  as  the  lot  system.  Almost 
the  entire  bar  of  the  city  were  interested.  Mr.  Olmsted 
and  many  others,  including  myself,  advocated  the  block 
system.  The  debates  and  conferences  were  long  and 
earnest  over  the  two  systems.  Finally  the  Bar  Associa- 
tion appointed  a  committee  of  seven,  of  which  I  was  chair- 
man, to  hear  arguments  and  report  on  the  two  systems. 
We  had  many  meetings,  but  could  not  agree.  Five  of  the 
committee  voted  in  favor  of  the  lot  system.  Mr.  Herbert 
B.  Turner  and  myself  agreed;  upon  a  minority  report  in 


56  PUBLIC  QUESTIONS 

favor  of  the  block  system,  and  I  wrote  the  report,  which 
forms  one  of  my  papers,  entitled  "  Land  Transfer  Re- 
form." The  advocates  of  the  lot  system  had  what  they 
called  their  perfected  bill,  said  to  have  been  chiefly  pre- 
pared by  Mr.  Southmayd,  an  eminent  lawyer  of  the  firm 
of  Evarts,  Southmayd  &  Choate.  The  advocates  of  the 
block  system  had  no  complete  bill  that  they  approved  at 
that  time.  The  Bar  Association  adopted  the  majority 
report.  The  fight  was  then  transferred  to  the  legislature 
at  Albany.  The  friends  of  the  lot  system  had  their  bill 
before  the  Judiciary  Committee  of  the  Assembly,  and  a 
hearing  was  set  down  for  that  bill  before  our  bill  was 
prepared.  I  went  to  Albany  alone  to  argue  the  question 
against  the  lot  system.  After  the  argument  on  the  first 
day  Judge  Greene,  one  of  the  committee,  I  think  from 
Orange  County,  said  to  me :  "  Your  argument  seems  to  be 
sound,  but  you  have  no  bill  here  to  represent  your  views." 
I  felt  the  force  of  what  he  said,  and  promised  him  I  would 
have  a  bill  there  at  two  o'clock  the  next  day.  I  procured 
a  stenographer  and  went  to  my  hotel  room,  and  before 
midnight  had  dictated  a  bill,  which  was  typewritten  the 
next  morning.  At  two  o'clock  the  next  day  I  presented 
my  bill  to  the  committee,  and  continued  my  argument 
against  the  lot  system  and  in  favor  of  the  block  system. 
After  various  arguments  before  the  Judiciary  Committee 
in  both  houses,  my  bill  was  passed  by  the  legislature  and 
signed  by  the  governor.  That  ended  all  legislation  on  the 
lot  system.  This  bill  has  been  amended  in  some  minor 
details,  but  the  principle  stands  to-day  as  the  plan  upon 
which  the  vast  real  estate  business  of  this  great  city  is 
transacted,  so  far  as  affected  by  the  working  of  the  Regis- 
try Office  is  concerned.  The  main  battle  was  to  get  the 
block  system  adopted  and  to  defeat  the  lot  system.  I 


PUBLIC  QUESTIONS  57 

think  the  adoption  of  the  lot  system  would  have  been  a 
colossal  blunder.  The  reasons  for  this  opinion  are  fully 
stated  in  my  minority  report  to  the  Bar  Association.  As 
I  reread  it  after  years  have  elapsed  the  reasons  stated  at 
the  time  seem  to  me  entirely  sound.  The  present  system 
can  go  on  for  all  time,  no  matter  how  large  the  city  may 
grow,  and  will  never  be  in  danger  of  breaking  down  by 
reason  of  the  magnitude  of  the  business,  as  the  old  system 
did. 

Soon  after  the  assassination  of  President  McKinley  the 
notorious  anarchist  Herr  Most  was  arraigned  in  the  Court 
of  Special  Sessions.  I  was  presiding  at  the  time.  It 
was  a  source  of  regret  to  my  associates  and  myself  that 
he  had  been  brought  before  us.  We  were  vaguely  impressed 
with  the  idea  that  there  was  no  law  by  which  he  could  be 
convicted.  To  have  him  arraigned  and  dismissed  as  hav- 
ing committed  no  offence  seemed  intolerable.  On  the 
other  hand,  to  convict  him  without  legal  justification  would 
not  conform  to  the  views  of  any  truly  patriotic  citizen. 
It  fell  to  my  lot  to  examine  the  law  touching  his  case. 
The  question  haunted  me  for  two  weeks  in  all  my  leisure 
moments,  and  it  was  with  no  little  difficulty  that  I  finally 
solved  the  problem  to  at  least  my  own  satisfaction.  I 
could  find  nothing  in  the  law  reports  that  would  throw 
even  the  slightest  light  upon  the  question.  The  public 
views  touching  the  freedom  of  the  press  were  hazy,  and 
may  be  said  to  be  firmly  set  against  any  improper  restraint 
upon  it.  The  question  was  to  distinguish  between  the 
article  in  Most's  paper  and  the  proper  freedom  of  the 
press.  I  finally  worked  the  problem  out  to  my  satisfac- 
tion, and  defined  the  line  to  be  that  freedom  of  the  press 
found  its  limit  when  the  press  advocated  the  commission 
of  a  crime  for  the  purpose  of  attaining  a  political  end. 


58  PUBLIC  QUESTIONS 

It  seems  to  me  that  this  is  a  perfectly  clear  and  defensible 
position.  The  Most  case  will  be  heard  on  appeal  very 
soon.  I  believe  that  in  the  opinion  that  I  wrote  I  blazed 
the  way  for  further  legislation,  and  that  in  the  end  the 
State  legislatures,  and  perhaps  the  federal  government, will 
find  a  clear  line  for  legislation  on  this  extremely  important 
subject.  If  the  result  of  my  study  and  investigation  shall 
have  attained  that  end,  it  will  be  in  accordance  with  my 
views  and  reflections  while  writing  that  opinion.  I  give 
this  opinion  in  full  in  this  book,  as  I  regard  it  a  public 
question  of  the  highest  importance  and  entitled  to  a  place 
here. 


CHAPTER   X 

UNION   LEAGUE   CLUB 

In  1875  I  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Union  League 
Club.  It  was  not  then  the  strong  organization  it  has  since 
become.  After  the  war  was  ended  many  members  thought 
the  purposes  of  its  organization  had  been  fulfilled  and  that 
it  should  disband.  Others  thought  its  life  should  con- 
tinue. When  I  joined  the  club  its  membership  was  not 
full,  and  I  was  elected  within  a  month  or  two  after  I  had 
been  proposed  as  a  member.  For  several  years  I  took  no 
interest  in  the  club  except  as  a  social  organization.  The 
political  power  for  reforms  did  not  attract  much  of  my 
attention.  The  offices  of  the  club  were  in  the  hands  of 
older  members,  and  I  did  not  take  part  in  its  management. 
After  some  years  I  began  to  take  part  in  the  debates  at 
the  club,  and  in  one  or  two  cases  with  rather  flattering 
success.  It  was  my  joining  this  club  that  finally  led  to 
a  situation  that  induced  me  to  write  this  autobiography. 
The  papers  I  prepared  for  the  club  form  the  major  part 
of  my  papers  that  I  originally  agreed  to  bind  together 
for  my  family.  In  the  year  1886  I  was  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Committee  on  Political  Reform.  No  hint  had 
been  given  me  that  I  was  to  be  nominated,  and  the  first 
I  knew  of  it  was  when  I  saw  my  name  with  others  posted 
in  the  official  ballot.  It  was  a  complete  surprise  to  me. 
I  have  been  continuously  on  that  committee  to  this  date. 
Whitelaw  Reid  was  then  chairman  of  the  committee.  In 


60  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB 

1887  there  was  a  great  discussion  going  on  over  the  ques- 
tion of  the  surplus  revenue  accumulating  in  the  United 
States  Treasury.  Mr.  Cleveland  was  then  President,  and 
he,  in  common  with  most  of  the  Democrats,  advocated  a 
reduction  of  duties  on  imports.  The  operation  of  the 
laws  ,for  the  collection  of  domestic  taxes,  together  with 
the  import  duties,  was  flooding  the  treasury  with  money 
that  could  not  be  paid  out  in  the  ordinary  course  of  the 
business  of  the  government.  This  produced  such  strin- 
gency in  the  money  market  as  to  disturb  business  interests 
very  seriously.  To  reduce  the  import  duties  was  in  the 
opinion  of  many  to  imperil  the  manufacturing  interests  of 
the  country.  The  question  was:  Which  stream  of  in- 
flowing money  to  the  treasury  should  be  stopped,  that 
from  the  internal  revenue  or  that  from  import  duties,  or 
should  some  middle  ground  be  found?  The  question 
came  up  before  our  committee,  Mr.  Reid  in  the  chair. 
After  listening  to  the  various  views  expressed  by  the  other 
members  of  the  committee,  I  stated  that  I  did  not  agree 
with  the  opinions  expressed  by  any  one  of  them.  This 
brought  a  challenge  to  me  for  my  views.  I  hastily  went 
over  the  ground  embodied  in  the  report  adopted  by  the 
club  in  April,  1888.  The  committee  thereupon  passed  a 
resolution  referring  it  to  me  to  prepare  a  report  for  them. 
That  evening  while  walking  up  Fifth  Avenue  with  Mr. 
Reid  he  said :  "  Hinsdale,  we  have  passed  a  wide-open 
resolution  for  you.  !N"ow  is  your  chance  to  put  down  just 
what  you  think."  The  report  that  I  prepared  was  adopted 
by  the  committee  without  changing  a  word,  two  members 
dissenting.  Mr.  Roosevelt,  now  President  of  the  United 
States,  and  Mr.  Knox,  at  one  time  controller  of  the  cur- 
rency, were  the  dissenting  members  of  the  committee. 
On  the  evening  the  report  was  adopted  by  the  committee 


UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB  61 

Mr.  Reid  was  late  in  coming  to  the  committee  meeting, 
and  when  he  did  come  he  stated  that  he  had  been  dining 
with  Mr.  Chauncey  M.  Depew,  and  he  had  told  him  about 
our  proposed  action.  Mr.  Depew  was  then  president  of 
the  club.  Mr.  Reid  reported  that  Mr.  Depew  was  very 
much  afraid  we  had  gone  too  far.  It  was  finally  arranged 
that  I  should  see  Mr.  Depew  and  read  the  report  to  him. 
I  did  so,  and  after  hearing  it  read  he  gave  it  his  prompt 
and  cordial  support.  In  January,  1888,  the  report  came 
before  the  club  for  adoption.  I  presented  the  report,  en- 
titled "  Protective  Tariff,"  and  Mr.  Roosevelt  read  a  dis- 
senting report.  Mr.  Joseph  H.  Choate  led  the  debate  in 
opposition.  With  two  such  vigorous  men  as  Mr.  Roose- 
velt and  Mr.  Choate  in  opposition,  it  may  well  be  believed 
that  the  debate  was  hot  and  lively.  Mr.  Reid  was  not 
present,  and  it  fell  to  my  lot  to  represent  the  committee. 
The  report  was  defended  by  some  of  the  ablest  men  in  the 
club.  About  midnight  it  was  proposed  to  lay  the  report 
on  the  table,  with  leave  to  the  committee  to  call  it  up  at 
any  subsequent  meeting.  On  behalf  of  the  committee  I 
accepted  that  arrangement.  At  the  April  meeting  it  was 
again  called  up,  with  a  slight  change  in  the  wording  of 
the  resolutions,  and  after  a  sharp  debate  was  passed  by  a 
large  majority.  It  was  manifest  that  the  club  was  deter- 
mined to  put  itself  on  record  as  in  full  sympathy  with  the 
doctrine  of  protection  to  American  industries.  That  in 
the  end  became  the  pith  and  point  of  the  whole  debate. 
The  opposition,  while  showing  free-trade  tendencies, 
adroitly  argued  that  the  club  should  not  attempt  to  fore- 
stall the  action  of  the  Republican  National  Convention, 
soon  to  meet  in  Chicago  to  nominate  a  candidate  for  Presi- 
dent. The  "  Tribune  "  the  next  day  referred  to  the  mat- 
ter editorially  as  follows : 


62  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB 

"  The  resolutions  adopted  by  the  Union  League  Club 
last  night  embody  the  historical  principles  of  our  National 
financial  policy.  The  revenue  for  the  General  Govern- 
ment should  be  raised  by  duties  on  imports.  Domestic 
taxation  for  the  purposes  of  the  General  Government 
should  be  resorted  to  only  in  case  of  need,  and  discon- 
tinued when  the  need  ceases.  The  tariff  should  be  regu- 
larly and  often  revised,  to  suit  the  changing  conditions  of 
trade,  and  to  correct  inequalities  and  injustices  which  are 
sure  to  arise;  but  this  revision  should  be  so  conducted 
as  to  protect  and  promote  American  industries.  Liquor 
should  be  heavily  taxed,  and  the  tax  should  be  imposed 
where  the  liquor  is  drunk  and  its  harm  is  done.  The  op- 
position to  all  this  at  the  Union  League,  proved  more  noisy 
than  numerous.  Mr.  Joseph  H.  Choate  led  it.  He  took 
care  to  declare  himself  a  Protectionist,  but  showed  that 
he  had  yet  the  alphabet  of  the  tariff  question  to  learn,  by 
maintaining  that  the  policy  approved  in  the  resolutions 
would  drive  the  Government  '  to  raise  the  duties  in  our 
present  iniquitous  tariff  still  higher,  to  get  revenue  enough 
for  its  ordinary  expenses.'  He  did  not  seem  to  know  that 
the  revenue  would  be  more  surely  and  easily  increased  by 
lowering  duties,  and  so  doubling  and  trebling  importations. 
He  concluded  by  likening  some  United  States  Senators, 
whom  he  supposed  by  his  way  of  thinking,  to  angels,  and 
by  warning  his  fellow-members  that  fools  only  rushed  in 
where  angels  feared  to  tread.  The  Club  thereupon 
voted  Mr.  Choate  down,  and  passed  the  resolutions  by 
a  majority  of  three  to  one.  That  versatile  gentleman 
probably  suspects,  this  morning,  that  his  glib  tongue 
ran  away  with  him  when  it  put  him  in  the  position 
of  calling  so  great  a  majority  of  his  fellow-members 
fools." 


UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB  63 

The  report  was  widely  discussed  by  the  press  through- 
out the  country.  The  Democratic  papers,  with  their  usual 
sensational  horror  of  the  evils  of  the  liquor  traffic,  charged 
upon  the  Republican  party  that  they  were  in  favor  of  free 
whiskey,  and  they  kept  up  this  false  cry  during  the  entire 
first  Harrison  campaign.  The  falsity  of  the  charge  did 
not  seem  to  phase  them  in  the  slightest  degree.  How 
such  an  inference  could  be  drawn  from  the  report  it  is  not 
easy  to  see  at  this  date.  However,  "  anything  for  a  cam- 
paign cry  "  seems  to  be  the  rule  with  them.  The  truth 
of  a  matter  is  of  no  moment. 

In  the  following  July  the  Republican  convention  met 
at  Chicago  and  nominated  Benjamin  Harrison  on  a  most 
pronounced  protective  tariff  platform,  and  he  was  elected 
on  that  issue.  A  few  days  after  the  convention  adjourned 
Mr.  Choate  met  me  at  the  club  and  gave  my  hand  a  most 
cordial  shake,  and  said :  "  You  ought  to  be  happy.  You 
had  your  own  way  in  the  club,  and  now  again  you  are 
vindicated  in  Chicago." 

The  influence  of  the  report,  whether  much  or  little, 
cannot  now  be  estimated.  During  the  canvass  I  met  two 
delegates  to  that  convention,  one  from  Kansas  and  the 
other  from  Nebraska,  who  told  me  that  the  Western  dele- 
gates would  never  have  dared  to  take  such  high  protective 
tariff  ground  if  the  Union  League  Club  had  not  pioneered 
the  way.  The  Western  delegates,  they  said,  would  have 
been  afraid  that  the  importing  and  commercial  inter- 
ests of  New  York  City  would  have  been  against  the 
doctrine. 

Mr.  Whitelaw  Reid,  as  chairman  of  the  committee,  in 
his  annual  report  to  the  club,  dated  January  10,  1889, 
made  the  following  statement: 

"  In  January  last  the  Committee  presented  to  the  Club 


64  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB 

a  report  concerning  the  continuance  of  war  taxation  for 
twenty  years  after  the  war,  and  the  dangers  from  the  con- 
sequent surplus  in  the  Treasury.  The  resolution  accom- 
panying the  report  was  the  subject  of  warm  discussion  in 
the  Club,  and  was  finally  laid  upon  the  table  to  be  called 
up  again  by  the  Club  after  due  notice.  In  April  it  was 
so  called  up  at  an  unusually  full  meeting,  with  modifica- 
tions proposed  by  the  Committee,  and  after  protracted  dis- 
cussion, was  adopted  by  a  large  majority.  The  opinion 
thus  formulated  by  the  Club  was  practically  accepted  a 
few  months  later  by  the  National  Republican  Convention, 
and  incorporated  into  the  platform  on  which  the  Presi- 
dential victory  of  1888  was  won." 

It  is  fair  to  state  that  since  the  debate  of  that  evening 
at  the  club  both  Mr.  Roosevelt  and  Mr.  Choate  have  in  all 
their  utterances,  so  far  as  I  have  seen  them,  been  in  full 
accord  with  their  party  on  the  question  of  promoting  home 
industries.  Perhaps  they  were  not  fully  understood  in 
that  debate.  There  is  no  fast  and  unchangeable  rule 
about  tariff  in  the  mind  of  sound  protectionists.  The  doc- 
trine is  flexible,  and  tariffs  should  be  changed  from  time 
to  time  to  meet  new  conditions.  The  one  unchangeable 
rule  is  to  so  adjust  tariffs  as  to  promote  home  industries 
rather  than  to  destroy  them. 

When  Mr.  Harrison  was  installed  as  President  he  ap- 
pointed Mr.  Reid  as  minister  to  the  republic  of  France. 
Mr.  Reid  resigned  his  chairmanship  of  the  Committee  on 
Political  Reform  of  the  club  in  1889,  and  I  was  elected 
chairman  in  his  stead,  a  position  I  held  until  January, 
1895,  when  I  declined  a  further  election  which  was  ten- 
dered me. 

I  entered  upon  the  duties  of  the  position  with  enthu- 


UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB  66 

aiasm  and  prepared  a  number  of  reports,  some  of  which 
I  shall  refer  to  in  this  narrative. 

In  November,  1889,  the  club  adopted  a  report  that  I 
prepared  on  the  subject  of  licensing  the  liquor  traffic,  then 
a  burning  question.  I  took  strong  ground  for  high  license 
of  that  traffic  as  the  best  practicable  solution  of  the  ques- 
tion. The  legislature  of  the  State  subsequently  passed 
the  present  high  license  law  in  substantial  accord  with  the 
report.  Of  this  report  Mr.  Depew  in  his  formal  address 
as  president  of  the  club  said : 

"  To  the  question  of  the  regulation  of  the  liquor  traffic 
our  Committee  on  Political  Reform  gave  the  closest  atten- 
tion and  the  most  thorough  examination.  Its  report  was 
(and  that  became  the  judgment  of  the  Club,  repeatedly 
affirmed)  that,  under  conditions  as  they  existed  in  the 
State  of  New  York  high  license  is  the  proper  solution  of 
the  problem.  The  results  gathered  from  the  beneficial 
experiences  of  other  States  were  collated  and  presented 
in  the  most  forcible  manner,  and  the  argument  pressed 
home,  that  by  a  proper  high  license  bill  once  enacted  into 
a  law  this  vexed  and  vexing  question  might  be  removed 
from  politics  and  the  saloon  be  no  longer  the  dominant 
factor  in  our  State  affairs.  The  Republican  party  of  that 
year  agreed  with  the  position  taken  by  the  Union  League, 
and  it  will  be  in  the  future  one  of  the  most  interesting 
studies  of  the  political  historian,  whether  the  party  having 
received  all  the  damage  possible  by  the  statement  of  its 
principles  and  platform  would  not,  in  the  end,  have  tri- 
umphed in  the  control  of  our  State  if  it  had  had  the 
courage  to  consistently  maintain  the  position  then  taken." 

In  1890  the  McKinley  Tariff  Bill  was  under  considera- 
tion in  Washington,  and  our  committee  determined  to 
5 


66  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB 

make  a  report  on  the  subject.  I  prepared  the  report,  en- 
titled "  The  McKinley  Tariff,  1890."  It  was  printed  and 
circulated  among  the  members  of  the  club.  While  the 
report  was  being  prepared  it  became  known  that  Mr. 
McKinley  was  to  be  in  New  York.  A  mutual  friend  ar- 
ranged that  I  should  have  a  private  interview  with  him 
to  discuss  the  report,  so  as  to  be  sure  that  it  was  in  harmony 
with  his  views.  The  interview  was  had,  and  we  went  over 
the  report  very  carefully.  He  suggested  the  insertion  of 
two  words,  and  I  agreed  to  his  suggestion.  I  can  never 
forget  that  interview.  I  was  greatly  impressed  by  the 
man.  We  talked  over  many  subjects  for  nearly  two  hours 
alone.  Never  after  that  interview  had  I  a  moment's  doubt 
as  to  his  great  abilities  or  devotion  to  the  best  interests  of 
his  country.  JSTow  after  his  tragic  death  I  cherish  those 
precious  moments  with  him  as  among  my  most  delightful 
memories. 

On  the  evening  of  April  29,  1891,  as  I  entered  the  club, 
expecting  to  present  the  report  to  the  large  meeting  that 
had  assembled,  I  was  handed  a  written  request,  signed  by 
a  large  number  of  the  best  men  in  the  club,  urging  me 
not  to  present  the  report,  fearing  it  might  complicate  mat- 
ters in  Washington.  I  was  astounded  at  the  request,  and, 
as  I  now  think,  weakly  yielded.  I  am  so  constituted  that 
I  do  not  yield  my  convictions  to  any  opponents,  however 
numerous  or  powerful.  My  resolutions  strengthen  on 
such  opposition.  But  to  have  a  sudden  and  unexpected 
slump  among  my  friends  instantly  makes  me  begin  to 
doubt  my  own  judgment.  I  did  not  present  the  report. 
Every  man  who  signed  the  request  was  in  full  accord  with 
the  sentiments  of  the  report,  but  was  afraid  at  that  time 
to  go  upon  record.  It  is  unfortunate  that  there  are  so 
many  really  good  people  in  the  world  who  are  frightened 


UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB  67 

at  a  shadow  and  who  do  not  know  that  a  straightforward 
and  aggressive  statement  of  principles  is  always  safe  and 
in  the  long  run  the  winning  policy.  The  report  represents 
my  views  and  is  entitled  to  a  place  among  my  papers. 

On  the  10th  of  March,  1891,  the  country  was  startled 
by  the  report  that  a  number  of  Italians  who  had  been 
tried  and  acquitted  by  a  jury  were  forcibly  taken  out  of 
the  jail  by  a  mob  and  murdered.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
detail  the  circumstances  of  that  crime  in  this  paper.  It 
was  a  new  and  startling  proposition  in  this  country  that 
so-called  "  best  citizens  "  should  be  engaged  in  such  a  piece 
of  work.  On  the  30th  of  March  the  club  adopted  the  first 
report  that  I  prepared  for  the  committee,  entitled  "  New 
Orleans  Riots,  First  Report."  This  report  attracted  wide 
attention,  and  was  generally  approved  by  the  press. 

On  the  28th  of  April,  a  second  report  was  presented  that 
I  had  written  for  the  committee.  This  report  was  unani- 
mously adopted  by  the  club.  The  report  attempted  to 
deal  with  the  question  of  improper  immigration  and  im- 
proper naturalization.  The  manner  of  its  treatment  of 
the  subject  must  be  judged  by  those  who  read  the  paper. 
No  paper  ever  issued  by  the  club  received  such  wide  notice 
or  earnest  discussion  in  the  press.  From  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Pacific,  from  north  to  south,  there  was  not  a  leading 
paper  that  did  not  publish  it  in  whole  or  in  part,  and 
generally  with  a  leading  editorial  on  the  subject.  The 
editorials  were  generally  highly  commendatory,  with  a  few 
discordant  notes,  the  latter  generally  from  the  southwest. 
I  cannot  undertake  to  put  into  this  narrative  the  numerous 
editorial  notices  in  this  country.  The  reports  also  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  English  press,  and  I  am  tempted  to 
present  some  of  their  notices,  as  they  did  not  reach  Ameri- 
can readers.  The  first  report  was  cabled  to  London  and 


68  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB 

published  in  the  "  London  Times  "  on  April  11,  1891. 
The  "  Times  "  prefaced  the  article  with  the  following 
remarks : 

"  The  Union  League  met  last  night  for  the  purpose  of 
considering  the  lynchings  at  New  Orleans.  The  members 
of  the  Union  League  Club  are  essentially  among  the  lead- 
ing men  of  New  York  in  point  of  wealth,  education,  con- 
servatism and  patriotic  motives,  and  are  Republican  in 
politics;  and  upon  those  rare  occasions  when  the  Club 
declares  its  sentiments  on  public  questions,  it  may  be  said 
to  represent  the  best  American  opinions.  The  gathering 
last  night  was  an  unusually  large  one,  and  the  following 
report  was  read  and  unanimously  adopted." 

Then  follows  the  report. 

"  Black  and  White  "  of  London,  under  date  of  April 
16,  1891,  said: 

"  The  United  States  Government  is  in  no  hurry  to  com- 
ply with  the  demands  of  Italy;  but  it  proposes  to  obtain 
a  trustworthy  official  statement  of  the  nationality  of  the 
New  Orleans  victims,  with  their  '  records  '  in  America  and 
in  Italy.  Meanwhile,  there  is  a  growing  feeling  in  the 
country  that  steps  must  be  taken  to  prevent  America  from 
becoming — in  a  sense  different  from  that  in  which  the 
expression  was  used  by  Dr.  Johnson — ( the  last  refuge  for 
scoundrels.'  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  many  of  the 
worst  elements  in  European  society  find  their  way  across 
the  Atlantic,  and,  if  the  evil  is  not  checked,  it  may  here- 
after be  a  real  danger  for  the  Republic.  The  opinion  of 
all  serious  Americans  on  the  subject  has  been  powerfully 
expressed  in  a  report  adopted  by  the  well-known  and  influ- 
ential Union  League  Club." 


UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB  C9 

"  The  Hub  "  of  London,  under  date  of  April  13,  1891, 
said: 

"  The  resolutions  of  the  New  York  Union  League  Club 
on  the  immigration  question  met  with  a  good  deal  of  sym- 
pathy here.  Public  opinion  is  growing  up  strongly  in 
favor  of  placing  the  whole  question  of  foreign  immigration 
on  a  totally  different  basis.  England  is  also  becoming 
alarmed  at  the  importation  of  pauper  foreigners,  disorgan- 
izing the  labor  markets  and  throwing  native  workmen  out 
of  employment.  The  Union  League  resolutions  will  be 
used  with  much  effect  in  Parliament." 

The  second  report  was  discussed  by  a  writer  in  the 
"  Nineteenth  Century  "  of  London,  under  date  of  May, 
1891.  Long  quotations  from  the  report  were  made.  Two 
extracts  of  this  paper  are  given  here.  The  first  extract 
was  before  taking  into  the  article  the  quotations  from  the 
report;  the  second  extract  was  after  the  writer  had  taken 
into  his  article  the  greater  part  of  the  report : 

"  The  report  of  the  Political  Reform  Union  League 
Club  of  New  York  on  the  recent  lynching  of  Italians  in 
the  State  of  Louisiana  is  a  document  worthy  of  the  great 
American  Statesman  who  did  believe  that  the  Decalogue 
and  the  golden  rule  must  govern  politics  as  well  as  other 
human  relations.  The  reformers  deprecate  the  lynching 
of  foreigners  who  have  been  tried  by  jury  and  acquitted." 

"  A  remarkable  document  this  we  think ;  one  which 
recommends  itself  to  all  justice-loving,  fair-dealing  minds. 
There  is  not  one  word  in  it  to  offend  Italy,  or  any  other 
nation  which  hitherto  has  discharged  its  surplus  popula- 
tion onto  the  hospitable  shores  of  the  United  States — tares 
and  wheat  mixed  in  unascertainable  proportion." 


70  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB 

The  "  Daily  Graphic  "  of  London  on  May  14th  con- 
tained a  notice  of  the  report,  with  extracts  therefrom. 
The  "  Morning  Advertiser "  of  London,  under  date  of 
May  15,  1891,  had  a  long  article,  in  which  it  discussed  the 
report  in  detail,  and  most  favorably. 

At  the  January  meeting  of  the  club  in  1893,  at  the  end 
of  Chauncey  M.  Depew's  seven  years'  service  as  president 
of  the  club,  he  made  a  farewell  address,  in  which  he  re- 
counted the  achievements  of  the  club  during  his  presi- 
dency. Referring  to  this  report  he  said : 

"  The  year  1891  is  also  distinguished  for  the  most  ex- 
haustive and  vigorous  report  upon  naturalization  and  im- 
migration which  is  to  be  found  in  the  literature  of  that 
most  important  and  exigent  discussion  of  the  day.  Then, 
as  always,  the  Union  League  Club  was  broadly  American 
in  its  ideas,  at  the  same  time  that  it  was  generously  hos- 
pitable to  those  who  were  worthy  of  our  hospitality." 

It  is  a  gratifying  reflection  that  subsequent  to  this  wide 
discussion  of  the  question  of  undesirable  immigration  by 
the  press,  Congress  took  up  the  subject  and  passed  the 
present  immigration  laws — a  great  improvement  on  the 
old  laws — but  they  did  not  go  as  far  as  I  would  desire. 

In  the  fall  elections  of  the  State  of  New  York,  after  a 
heated  contest,  the  Republicans  elected  a  clear  majority 
of  the  senators,  and  the  Democrats  a  decisive  majority  of 
the  members  of  the  Assembly.  David  B.  Hill  was  then 
governor  of  the  State.  When  it  began  to  appear  that 
Governor  Hill  was  plotting  to  reverse  the  will  of  the 
people  of  the  State  of  New  York  and  change  a  Republican 
Senate  into  a  Democratic  Senate  excitement  was  at  fever 
heat.  The  press  had  given  the  events  as  they  came  out, 
but  the  events  were  so  complicated  that  few  men  could 


UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB  71 

carry  them  in  their  consecutive  order  and  understand  just 
how  the  act  was  consummated.  One  day,  on  my  way  to 
Albany,  I  called  upon  Mr.  Depew,  then  president  of  the 
club,  and  the  subject  of  the  steal  came  up.  He  asked  me 
how  it  was  done,  and  frankly  stated  that  he  could  not 
understand  it  in  all  its  parts.  After  some  talk  he  asked 
me  to  look  it  up  and  make  a  report  on  it  to  the  club.  I 
was  to  spend  several  days  in  Albany,  and  with  this  hint 
in  mind  while  I  was  there  I  spent  all  my  leisure  hours 
in  the  newspaper  offices  poring  over  the  files,  and  with 
the  aid  of  the  data  thus  gathered  I  put  together  the  story 
of  the  great  crime  in  the  form  of  a  report  to  the  club, 
which  was  adopted  unanimously  by  the  members.  I  be- 
lieve this  was  the  first  consecutive  account  of  the  matter 
ever  published.  It  does  not  concern  this  narrative  to  state 
the  story  over  again.  The  report  speaks  for  itself,  and  is 
entitled  here  "  Governor  David  B.  Hill's  Steal  of  the  Sen- 
ate of  the  State  of  New  York."  .Governor  Hill's  cunning 
plans  all  came  to  naught.  He  was  "  hoist  on  his  own  pe- 
tard." The  principal  actors  with  him  were  all  punished  by 
the  courts.  Obscurity  has  been  the  lot  of  such  of  them  as 
are  living.  Governor  Hill,  notwithstanding  his  great  abil- 
ity, is  under  a  cloud  from  which  it  is  not  probable  he  will 
ever  emerge.  It  would  be  a  curious  and  interesting  story 
to  tell  how  he  lost  to  his  party  the  State  Constitutional 
Convention  the  following  year,  and  how  that  convention 
put  into  the  constitution  provisions  that  for  twenty  years 
would  hold  in  check  so  unscrupulous  a  politician  as  Gover- 
nor Hill.  The  morning  after  the  club  adopted  the  report 
the  "  New  York  Tribune  "  of  March  11,  1892,  had  the 
following  editorial  comment  on  it: 

"  The  facts  set  forth  in  the  elaborate  report  on  David  B. 
Hill's  theft  of  the  Legislature  which  the  Union  League 


72  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB 

Club  adopted  last  evening  are  familiar  to  readers  of  the 
1  Tribune.'  The  statement  of  them  made  by  the  Commit- 
tee on  Political  Reform  is  worthy  of  careful  reading  never- 
theless. All  the  steps  in  this  gigantic  crime  are  described 
with  clearness  and  force,  and  the  authors  and  perpetrators 
of  the  great  steal  are  held  up  to  the  scorn  and  reprobation 
which  they  deserve.  The  arch-conspirator  was,  of  course, 
David  B.  Hill,  whom  the  report  handles  without  gloves. 
The  thrust  at  those  Democrats  who  deprecate  Hill's  early 
convention  trick,  while  they  have  nothing  to  say  of  his 
high  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  is  timely  and  well  merited." 

In  my  annual  report,  dated  January  12,  1893,  I  again 
pay  my  respects  to  Governor  Hill.  He  had  then  just  been 
elected  United  States  senator  by  the  tainted  legislature. 
He  has  never  since  held  a  public  office. 

I  prepared,  and  the  committee  reported,  several  other 
reports  for  the  club,  all  of  which  were  adopted,  except  the 
one  on  the  annexation  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  which  was 
defeated  at  a  meeting  slimly  attended.  It  is  gratifying 
to  reflect  that  the  islands  have  since  been  annexed.  The 
opponents  of  the  report  had  too  narrow  views  of  the 
progress  of  events. 

In  the  winter  of  1894  I  prepared  and  submitted  to  the 
committee  of  the  club  a  proposed  report  entitled  "  Munici- 
pal Reform,"  which  I  have  included  among  these  papers. 
No  arguments  or  entreaties  on  my  part  would  induce  the 
committee  to  adopt  it.  They  seemed  to  think  it  too  radical. 
With  great  reluctance  I  was  compelled  to  abandon  it.  I 
thought  it  at  the  time,  and  still  think  it,  one  of  the  best 
papers  I  ever  prepared.  I  considered  seriously  the  ques- 
tion of  submitting  it  to  the  club  as  my  minority  report, 
but  out  of  deference  to  the  views  of  my  associates  I  did 


UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB  78 

not  do  so.  There  again  I  weakly  yielded  my  judgment 
to  my  associates.  Timid  good  men  again  defeated  me. 
They  did  not  forecast  what  was  to  follow  as  clearly  as  I 
did.  In  the  following  autumn  I  saw  my  ideas  carried  out 
in  the  canvass  that  elected  Mayor  Strong. 

In  the  following  year,  1894,  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion of  New  York  State  amended  the  constitution  on  the 
lines  indicated  in  my  proposed  report.  The  course  of 
our  committee  on  the  Charles  Stewart  Smith  resolution, 
upon  which  this  report  was  prepared,  was  a  subject  of  fre- 
quent conversation  in  the  club  by  leading  members.  I 
was  asked  so  often  why  we  took  the  course  we  did,  and  I 
as  chairman  was  prodded  so  much  on  the  subject  that 
finally,  in  the  autumn  of  1894,  I  determined  to  clear  my 
skirts  of  all  responsibility  in  the  matter  by  showing  my 
proposed  report  to  a  few  friends.  I  first  showed  it  to  Mr. 
Appleton,  who  with  my  consent  sent  it  to  Charles  Stewart 
Smith.  Mr.  Smith  returned  it  with  the  following  note : 

"  25  West  47th  St., 

"November  16 — 94. 
"  My  Dear  Appleton — 

"  I  am  very  much  obliged  both  to  you  and  Mr.  Hins- 
dale  for  giving  me  the  privilege  of  reading  the  report  which 
he  had  intended,  if  other  members  of  his  Committee  had 
supported  him,  to  submit  to  the  Club.  I  am  glad  to 
know  that  Mr.  Hinsdale  had  the  prophetic  vision  to  see 
what  the  year  had  in  store,  at  least  to  some  extent.  None 
of  us  could  have  anticipated  the  grand  result  of  the  6th 
of  Nov.  I  am  only  sorry  that  the  U.  L.  C.  did  not 
lead  in  the  union  movement  that  dethroned  Tammany, 
because  it  would  have  been  in  accordance  with  its  early 


74  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB 

traditions  and  actions.     It  lost  an  opportunity  which  that 
old  fogy  body  the  Chamber  of  C.  seized. 
"  Yours  truly, 

"  Charles  Stewart  Smith. 
"  Danl.  F.  Appleton,  Esq." 

The  proposed  report  was  then  sent  to  the  Hon.  Joseph 
H.  Choate  to  read.  He  returned  it  with  the  following 
note: 

"  31st  Dec.,  1894. 
"  My  Dear  Hinsdale — 

"  This  is  the  day  to  do  things  we  have  left  undone 
too  long.  I  return  your  report  which  I  have  perused  with 
great  pleasure.  It  reads  like  a  prophecy  in  the  light  of 
recent  events. 

"  Yours  very  truly, 

"  Joseph  H.  Choate. 
"  E.  B.  Hinsdale,  Esq." 

At  the  time  the  committee  rejected  my  report  I  was 
very  much  hurt  and  disappointed.  It  seemed  to  me  a  poor 
reward,  after  so  much  labor  and  thought  bestowed  upon  it, 
to  have  it  thrown  aside  by  a  body  of  well-meaning  men 
who  had  no  perception  of  the  trend  of  events  at  that  time. 
During  the  time  of  my  chairmanship  I  prepared  an  ad- 
dress for  the  club  to  Hon.  William  M.  Evarts  on  the  occa- 
sion of  a  reception  given  him  by  the  club  after  his  election 
to  the  United  States  Senate.  On  the  death  of  John  Bright 
I  prepared  a  paper  for  the  club,  in  which  I  tried  to  give 
expression  to  the  general  feelings  of  that  body  on  that 
occasion.  Mr.  Bright's  course  during  our  Civil  War  had 
won  my  highest  admiration,  and  I  wap  glad  to  be  called 


UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB  75 

upon  to  render  that  humble  tribute  to  his  memory.  The 
club  adopted  the  paper,  and  caused  it  to  be  beautifully 
engrossed  in  a  book  and  transmitted  to  his  family.  Mr. 
Bright's  course  during  the  war  was  in  such  marked  con- 
trast to  that  of  Mr.  Gladstone  that  while  the  latter  was 
disliked  and  suspected,  the  former  stood  on  a  high  pedestal 
in  the  estimation  of  all  loyal  citizens,  and  they  felt  that 
they  owed  him  a  great  debt  of  gratitude. 


CHAPTEE   XI 

COURT  OF    SPECIAL    SESSIONS 

In  the  winter  of  1895  the  legislature  abolished  the  old 
Court  of  Special  Sessions  and  created  the  present  court, 
organized  on  a  new  and  untried  basis.  There  is  not  an- 
other court  like  it  in  the  United  States.  Mayor  Strong 
had  the  power  of  making  the  appointment  of  the  justices. 
Great  public  interest  was  taken  in  the  expected  appoint- 
ments. The  press  of  the  city  published  many  articles  on 
the  subject.  I  recall  two  letters,  one  from  ex-Judge  Noah 
Davis  and  one  from  A.  S.  Hewitt,  former  mayor  of  the 
city,  in  which  each  stated  that  it  was  the  most  important 
court  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  urged  the  mayor  to 
give  the  court  such  justices  as  would  have  the  confidence 
of  the  public.  At  the  time,  I  thought  the  estimate  of  these 
gentlemen  as  to  the  importance  of  the  court  very  extrava- 
gant. After  an  experience  of  over  six  years  in  the  court 
my  own  estimate  of  the  importance  of  its  work  for  the 
peace  and  good  order  of  society  is  greatly  advanced.  Its 
power  is  far-reaching,  and  its  jurisdiction  is  over  about 
2,500,000  people.  It  is  practically  the  court  of  last  resort 
to  a  greater  number  of  persons  who  come  before  it  than 
any  court  in  the  State.  While  the  right  of  appeal  exists 
it  is  rarely  availed  of.  In  my  own  experience,  while  I 
have  been  presiding  during  over  six  years  there  has  been 
but  one  appeal  taken,  and  the  judgment  in  that  case  was 
affirmed  unanimously  by  the  Appellate  Division  of  the 
Supreme  Court  and  again  by  the  Court  of  Appeals. 


COURT  OF  SPECIAL  SESSIONS  77 

When  the  subject  of  appointments  to  the  court  was  being 
considered  by  the  public  generally,  my  friend  Joseph  H. 
Choate  casually  suggested  to  me  that  I  be  a  candidate.  I 
did  not  take  kindly  to  the  idea,  and  put  the  suggestion 
aside.  Later  Mr.  Elihu  Root  urged  me  earnestly  to  take 
the  place,  and  said :  "  What  is  the  use  of  getting  control  of 
the  city  unless  we  can  induce  men  like  you  to  take  office  ?  " 
I  finally  had  an  interview  with  Mayor  Strong  on  the  sub- 
ject, and  told  him  that  if  he  saw  fit  to  appoint  me  I  would 
accept ;  but  I  said :  "  No  petition  shall  be  circulated  with 
my  consent  asking  for  the  place,  nor  will  I  so  much  as  turn 
my  finger  over  to  get  it."  "  Well,"  he  replied,  "  won't 
you  at  least  write  me  a  letter  that  you  will  accept  the 
appointment  if  I  wish  to  make  it,  so  that  I  may  have  some- 
thing to  go  on  ?  "  He  made  me  no  promise,  and  I  did  not 
suggest  to  him  that  I  wanted  one,  and  I  knew  nothing 
about  what  he  was  thinking  of  doing  unless  an  inference 
was  to  be  drawn  from  his  asking  for  a  letter.  I  wrote 
such  a  letter,  and  so  far  as  I  know  that  was  the  only  paper 
he  had  to  support  him  in  the  nomination  of  myself  for  the 
place.  For  a  period  of  about  two  months  before  the  ap- 
pointment was  made  I  met  him  frequently  in  the  club  after 
that  interview.  While  we  talked  in  a  social  and  general 
way  neither  of  us  ever  by  any  word,  hint,  or  suggestion 
referred  to  the  subject.  I  never  asked  anybody  to  interest 
himself  for  me  in  the  matter.  It  was  not  until  the 
appointment  was  announced  to  the  public  that  I  knew 
anything  about  it.  I  cannot  deny  that  I  was  pleased  to 
get  the  highest  place  on  the  list  of  justices,  coming  as  it 
did  without  an  effort  on  my  part  to  get  the  same.  The 
court  consists  of  five  members,  and  when  I  became  ac- 
quainted with  my  associates  I  found  them  a  body  of  men 
honest,  earnest,  competent,  and  faithful  in  the  discharge 


78  COURT  OP  SPECIAL  SESSIONS 

of  their  duties.  My  association  with  them,  and  each  of 
them,  has  always  been  most  agreeable.  They  honored  me 
with  the  position  of  presiding  justice.  If  I  mistake  not, 
the  court  has  attained  a  high  place  in  the  estimate  of  the 
public.  There  is  one  feature  of  a  criminal  court  the  ex- 
istence of  which  I  was  not  aware  until  I  had  experience 
of  it.  The  conception  I  had  of  a  criminal  court  before  I 
went  into  the  Court  of  Special  Sessions  was  that  it  was  a 
place  for  harsh  judgments  only,  that  somehow  it  was  a 
cruel  machine,  executing  the  severe  mandates  of  the  crimi- 
nal law  without  much  regard  to  the  benevolent  impulses 
of  our  natures.  The  field  for  the  exercise  of  all  the  bet- 
ter impulses  of  humanity  by  the  court  had  not  been  sus- 
pected by  me.  My  civil  practice  of  a  lifetime  had  led  me 
to  see  rights  adjusted  without  much  sentiment.  The  civil 
courts  deal  mainly  with  things,  not  with  human  beings 
with  souls  and  sentiments  and  a  life  before  them.  There 
is  not  much  room  for  sentiment  in  the  question  whether 
things  properly  go  to  one  litigant  or  another.  A  person 
in  civil  courts  may  think  in  a  particular  case  that  justice 
or  injustice  has  been  done,  but  that  is  all  there  is  to  it  in 
that  line.  Not  so  in  a  criminal  court.  There  is  not  much 
trouble  in  disposing  of  old  and  hardened  offenders,  but 
when  the  young,  the  first  offenders,  who  had  theretofore 
led  an  honest  life,  are  found  guilty,  then  the  first  question 
that  arises  is  what  can  be  done  to  save  them.  What  does 
the  safety  of  society  require?  Prisons  are  not  reforma- 
tories; character  is  not  built  up  and  strengthened  there. 
The  future  of  this  class  of  offenders  at  once  presses  home 
upon  the  conscience  and  judgment  of  the  judge.  Kind- 
ness reforms  faster  than  severity.  We  have  found  that 
the  lesson  of  trial  and  conviction  has  been  lesson  enough 
to  the  vast  majority  of  these  cases,  and  the  court  has  exer- 


COURT  OF  SPECIAL  SESSIONS  79 

cised  its  power  to  suspend  sentence  freely,  and  has  prob- 
ably let  a  greater  number  of  young  and  first  offenders  go 
at  large  under  a  suspended  sentence  than  has  any  other 
court  in  this  country.  It  is  probably  far  within  the  limit 
to  say  that  we  have  discharged  in  this  way  more  than  ten 
thousand  such  convicted  persons,  nearly  all  of  whom  are 
leading  correct  lives  so  far  as  we  know.  Occasionally  we 
get  one  back,  and  then  he  is  dealt  with  severely.  We 
have  from  the  first  been  greatly  aided  in  the  work  of  re- 
forming offenders  by  Mrs.  Foster,  known  as  the  "  Tombs 
Angel."  Her  benevolent  devotion  to  the  criminal  classes 
worthy  of  help  cannot  be  too  highly  commended.  Mr. 
Willard  has  for  the  last  two  years  devoted  his  services  to 
the  interest  of  boys,  and  has  been  of  great  service  to  the 
court. 

When  I  went  into  the  court  it  was  with  great  misgivings 
and  doubts  as  to  the  wisdom  of  the  step,  but  I  have  learned 
to  like  the  work.  I  do  not  think  I  am  a  very  benevolent 
person,  but  somehow  it  does  warm  my  heart  to  steadily 
try  to  save  all  I  can  of  the  young  from  growing  up  to  be 
hardened  criminals.  It  seems  to  me  to  be  a  pretty  good 
and  important  work  for  this  city. 


CHAPTEK   XH 

EEFLECTIONS 

The  reflections  of  a  man  in  mature  years,  in  good  health 
and  spirits,  still  active  in  the  affairs  of  life,  are  very  dif- 
ferent from  the  reflections  of  a  young  man  of  twenty  or 
twenty-five  years  of  age.  The  mature  man's  thoughts  are 
largely  in  the  retrospective.  The  young  man  has  not  much 
field  for  retrospection,  but  is  peering  earnestly  into  the  fu- 
ture to  try  and  see  what  is  before  him.  He  sees  all  around 
him  an  active  strife.  Most  of  the  men  seem  to  have  found 
the  place  for  them  to  work.  He  looks  earnestly  and 
anxiously  for  the  rift  in  the  close  line  of  combat  into  which 
he  can  enter  to  do  his  work.  Alas,  how  long  and  eagerly 
do  many  spirited  young  men  look  and  never  see  the  place 
that  they  are  fitted  to  fill !  I  often  think  there  is  no  class 
of  men  more  to  be  pitied  than  young  men,  not  boys,  but 
young  men  striving  to  get  started  in  life's  great  work.  If 
the  story  of  their  sad  thoughts  and  discouragements  could 
be  told  it  would  excite  the  greatest  sympathy,  but  they  are 
generally  endowed  with  hope,  courage,  and  endurance. 
They  do  not  murmur  or  yield,  and  at  last  a  fair  measure 
of  success  comes  to  substantially  all  who  are  worthy  of 
success.  I  am  not  among  those  who  believe  that  in  this 
age  and  country  a  man  can  entirely  fail  if  he  is  worthy 
of  success.  It  will  generally  be  found  that  the  so-called 
failures  ought  to  have  failed.  It  will  be  discovered  that 
they  lacked  the  grit,  the  perseverance,  and  character  to 


REFLECTIONS  SI 

win  success.  The  battle  of  life  is  no  amateur  perform- 
ance; it  is  real,  earnest,  and  persistent.  The  measure  of 
success  is  always  uncertain,  but  some  respectable  measure 
of  success  is  within  the  reach  of  all  if  they  strive  properly 
for  it. 

The  mature  man  of  seventy  retrospects.  The  battle  of 
life  is  not  before  him  but  behind  him — nearly  finished.  A 
few  thoughts  of  how  he  will  finish  the  contest  may  come 
to  him,  but  no  such  earnest  planning  and  striving  to  find 
a  place  to  work  as  the  young  man  has  to  encounter.  If 
he  did  not  find  something  to  do  years  ago,  he  never  will ; 
too  late  to  think  of  a  new  career;  no  chance  to  change  the 
trend  of  life;  the  pace  has  been  set  for  him;  it  is  a  ques- 
tion of  finish  now.  I  have  reached  the  age  when  I  am 
retrospecting.  As  memory  slowly  unwinds  the  skein  of 
life  I  see  many  mistakes,  errors,  and  lost  opportunities. 
The  one  clear  line  I  see  is  that  as  far  as  light  has  been 
given  me  to  see  the  right  of  any  question  I  have  allied  my- 
self with  that  side.  I  have  striven  to  do  my  duty  with 
integrity  and  justice  to  all.  I  am  an  undoubted  optimist. 
It  seems  to  me  that  the  world  and  our  country  have  made 
wonderful  advances  since  my  early  days.  The  material 
advances  since  I  can  remember  are  simply  indescribable. 
It  would  be  hackneyed  for  me  to  try  to  recount  them ;  such 
advances  are  known  to  all.  The  intellectual  and  moral 
condition  of  the  world  has  advanced.  I  believe  the  forces 
for  good  are  more  than  a  match  for  the  forces  for  evil. 
All  evil  forces  now,  if  I  may  use  such  a  metaphor,  are 
skulking,  fearing  all  the  time  a  blow  from  the  forces  that 
make  for  righteousness.  I  believe  the  most  important 
thing  now  is  the  education  and  training  of  the  young — 
mentally,  morally,  and  industrially.  The  churches,  in  so 
far  as  they  are  teaching  sound  morals  and  pure  religion 
6 


88  REFLECTIONS 

as  the  rule  of  action  in  life,  are  doing  a  grand  work.  ID 
so  far  as  they  are  battling  for  dogmas,  creeds,  forms,  and 
ceremonies  they  are  doing  much  hurt.  It  is  pitiful  to 
see  so  many  men  of  giant  intellects  and  integrity  of  pur- 
pose working  and  striving  for  things  that  ought  to  be  cast 
into  the  tombs  of  past  scholastic  learning  as  questions  of 
no  importance  in  this  age.  It  is  hard  for  me,  after  a  life- 
time of  close  attention  to  the  subject,  to  understand  how 
modern  church  organizations,  with  all  that  they  do  and 
teach,  have  been  built  up  out  of  the  simple  story  of  Christ's 
life  and  teachings.  He  stated  the  whole  subject  in  those 
wonderful  words,  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with 
all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind. 
This  is  the  first  and  great  commandment.  And  the  second 
is  like  unto  it,  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself. 
On  these  two  commandments  hang  all  the  law  and  the 
Prophets."  I  never  read  these  lines  or  hear  them  read 
without  a  renewed  effort  to  comprehend  their  far-reaching 
and  wonderful  import.  The  first  is  subjective,  and  defines 
the  frame  of  mind  one  should  carry  through  life — that  of 
reverent  love  for  his  Creator.  The  effect  of  this  as  a  re- 
fining influence  upon  character  cannot  be  estimated.  The 
second  is  both  subjective  and  objective.  It  softens  and 
refines  the  character  of  one  who  tries  to  live  up  to  its 
requirements.  The  practice  of  its  precepts  by  any  one 
reaches  out  in  all  good  works  to  all  within  the  spheres  of 
influence  of  such  a  person.  The  general  practice  of  the 
precept  would  burn  out  all  crimes,  frauds,  cruelties,  and 
other  evils,  and  universal  peace  and  amity  would  prevail. 
If  in  the  later  years  of  my  life  I  have  been  less  in- 
clined to  regard  creeds,  dogmas,  forms,  and  ceremonies  of 
as  much  importance  as  I  once  did,  it  is  because  of  this 
passage  I  have  quoted  above.  It  has  impressed  me  with 


REFLECTIONS  83 

the  nothingness  of  all  beliefs  and  creeds  in  comparison 
with  its  simple  teachings.  It  appears  to  me  that  the  frame 
of  mind  inculcated  there  is  about  all  any  human  being  can 
attain  to.  If  I  am  wrong  that  that  covers  the  whole 
ground,  I  have  high  authority  for  my  belief.  It  is  aston- 
ishing how  much  of  fetish  and  tradition  has  come  down 
to  us  from  unknown  past  ages,  from  no  one  knows  where, 
like  logs  and  driftwood  on  the  seashore.  They  have  been 
polished  up  and  worked  into  our  modern  civilization.  Per- 
haps it  is  best  to  have  them  there  for  a  time  in  our  present 
stage  of  development.  We  are  more  refined  about  it,  but 
we  are  not  far  removed  from  idolatry  and  the  worship  of 
sticks  and  stones.  As  I  understand  it,  religion  and  educa- 
tion are  to  build  up  character  for  this  world.  I  have  never 
yet  met  the  man  who  was  quite  sure  of  the  exact  nature 
and  environment  of  our  future  life.  We  all  hope  for  a 
higher  and  better  future  life,  and  it  seems  to  me  the  best 
preparation  for  that  unknown  change  is  to  live  and  act 
the  highest  type  of  life  attainable  in  this  world,  each  one 
doing  his  duty  in  his  station  and  calling.  We  seem  to  be 
placed  in  this  life  in  a  state  of  mutual  dependence  one  upon 
another,  interlocked  and  affected  by  those  around  us  in  a 
multitude  of  ways.  It  is  important  that  each  person  sees 
to  it  that  his  or  her  influence,  be  the  same  much  or  little, 
is  always  making  for  righteousness,  justice,  purity,  integ- 
rity, industry,  and  all  other  virtues. 

Education  in  the  broadest  sense  is  the  basis  of  character, 
and  all  the  future  hopes  of  our  country  depend  upon  the 
education  of  our  children.  Soon  all  the  great  affairs  of 
this  country  must  be  in  the  hands  of  those  who  are  now 
only  children.  I  have  lived  long  enough  to  have  seen 
every  prominent  man  in  this  State  who  was  active  in  pub- 
lic affairs  in  my  early  life,  between  Buffalo  and  Montauk, 


84  REFLECTIONS 

swept  off  the  stage.  I  have  witnessed  the  great  change, 
and  in  recalling  the  long  list  of  the  dead  solemn  thoughts 
come  to  me  as  I  contemplate  it  in  my  present  retrospection. 
To  iny  mind  the  educator,  the  school  teacher,  has  the  most 
important  calling  in  this  life.  I  use  the  word  educator 
in  its  broadest  possible  sense,  as  including  all  teaching, 
whether  by  active  work  in  that  calling  or  by  influence  or 
example. 

I  am  prone  to  rumination  and  reflection.  Perhaps  it 
is  a  bad  habit.  Perhaps  I  have  put  down  here  already 
too  many  of  the  reflections  that  pass  through  my  mind  as 
I  sit  alone  in  my  library  smoking  my  favorite  meerschaum 
pipe. 

Kew  York,  December  4,  1901. 


REPORTS  AND  DOCUMENTS 


Appeared  in  Le  Roy  Gazette,  Wednesday,  May  27,  1857 
Official  Paper  of  the  County 

The  lengthy  communication  under  the  above  heading 
we  insert  at  the  request  of  an  esteemed  friend,  for  whom 
as  a  man  we  entertain  profound  respect.  As  a  politician 
we  entertain  an  equally  profound  dissent  from  his  prin- 
ciples. We  do  not  propose  a  lengthened  discussion  of  the 
whole  field  of  the  above  articles  to  show  their  weakness 
in  logic  and  their  falsity  in  fact.  It  would  take  more  time 
and  space  than  would  be  agreeable  to  ourselves  or  to  our 
readers.  We  cannot  refrain,  however,  from  an  expose  of 
one  or  two  of  their  errors,  which  we  think  will  wholly 
destroy  the  force  of  their  reasoning. 

"  Article  No.  2  "  labors  hard  to  prove  the  inferiority  of 
the  African  race.  It  endeavors  to  show  that  the  "  capacity 
of  the  negro  is  low  for  the  arts  and  sciences."  That  "  in 
morals  both  social  and  political  his  mind  is  as  dark  as  his 
body." 

By  the  use  of  the  above  language  it  is  admitted  that  the 
negro  has  a  "  mind,"  that  he  has  some  "  capacity  for  the 
arts  and  sciences,"  and  that  he  has  some  "  morality."  The 
argument  is  simply  this:  Because  these  capabilities  are 
"  low,"  therefore  it  is  morally  right  to  make  a  slave  of 
the  negro. 

The  argument  proceeds  solely  upon  inferiority  in  quan- 
tity, and  not  difference  in  quality  or  kind  of  mental  powers. 


88          NORTHERN  INTERFERENCE  WITH  SLAVERY 

The  right  to  hold  to  slavery  it  is  not  now  pretended  rests 
upon  color  of  skin.  That  ground  has  been  abandoned  by 
the  South  in  some  of  her  late  shifts.  Now,  if  there  is  any 
force  in  the  above  argument,  it  must  apply  to  all  alike, 
without  regard  to  race  or  color,  whether  white  or  black. 
If  such  a  principle  is  applicable  to  a  race  as  a  whole,  it 
must  be  applicable  to  each  individual  of  the  race.  Under 
such  reasoning  whoever  can  show  superiority  of  intel- 
lectual powers  can  show  a  patent  from  the  Almighty  to 
hold  any  of  his  fellows  who  are  below  him  in  capacity  as 
his  slave.  Such  new-fangled  logic  renders  phrenology  of 
immense  importance  to  the  human  family.  If  that  sci- 
ence be  true,  we  have  only  to  obtain  correct  charts  of  our 
heads  to  ascertain  whether  God  designed  us  for  slaves  or 
for  freemen.  It  is  a  gross  error  to  suppose  that  those  only 
are  equals  in  natural  or  personal  rights  who  are  equals  in 
mental  and  moral  capabilities.  This  distinction  we  fear 
is  not  always  made  -in  the  argument  of  this  question. 
Equality  of  personal  rights,  in  a  moral  point  of  view,  has 
nothing  to  do  with  equality  of  mental  powers.  The  great 
mass  of  mankind  in  "  capacity  "  are  by  no  means  the  peers 
of  our  Adamses,  our  Jacksons,  our  Websers,  our  Hales, 
and  our  Sewards.  Still  their  natural  and  personal  rights 
are  just  as  sacred  and  just  as  many  as  the  rights  of  the 
greatest  men.  It  is  the  glory  of  our  country  that  the  weak 
and  the  low  are  protected  in  their  personal  rights  equally 
with  the  strong  and  powerful.  The  position  of  our  South- 
ern friend  is  simply  that  "  might  makes  right." 

But,  further,  our  esteemed  friend's  argument  proves  too 
much  for  him.  If  it  be  true  that  in  a  moral  point  of  view 
the  right  to  hold  the  blacks  as  slaves  rests  upon  the  in- 
feriority of  the  negroes  in  "  mind  "  and  "  capacity,"  then 
the  converse  proposition  must  be  true  also — that  those 


NORTHERN  INTERFERENCE  WITH  SLAVERY          89 

slaves  who  do  possess  minds  of  good  natural  powers  they 
have  no  moral  right  whatever  to  hold  as  slaves.  This  is 
a  legitimate  conclusion  from  his  position.  We  have  a 
right  to  ask  that  those  mixed  bloods  of  the  South  be  freed 
from  their  bondage  who  possess  as  good  natural  powers 
as  the  great  body  of  the  whites.  Will  our  friend,  to  be 
consistent,  advocate  the  emancipation  of  this  class? 

It  will  be  observed  that  we  do  not  now  examine  that 
part  of  the  above  article  which  touches  upon  the  legal  right 
to  hold  slaves.  As  we  said  at  the  outset,  we  cannot  now  go 
over  the  whole  field. 

It  is  a  matter  of  great  significance  that  in  this  enlight- 
ened age  and  country  so  many  men  can  be  found  ready 
to  support  and  defend  that  old  and  hoary  crime — slavery. 
Why  men  will  call  evil  good  and  good  evil,  and  will  put 
darkness  for  light  and  light  for  darkness,  bitter  for  sweet 
and  sweet  for  bitter,  is  to  us  inexplicable.  It  is  in  vain 
to  appeal  to  the  free  thinkers  of  the  North  to  respect  this 
giant  wrong  because  of  its  antiquity,  and  equally  vain  to 
expect  them  to  be  awed  into  silence  by  its  colossal  propor- 
tions. There  is  a  law  "  higher  than  the  Blue  Ridges  of 
Virginia  "  to  which  all  human  society  must  submit,  willing 
or  unwilling.  That  law  is  first  pure  and  then  peaceable. 
Peace  before  purity  cannot  be. 

Our  friend  is  right  in  saying  that  oppressed  races  who 
have  attained  "  preeminence"  have  ever  thought  and  fought 
their  own  way."  Aye,  in  truth  the  slaves  will  think  for 
their  freedom,  and  sooner  or  later,  if  need  be,  will  fight 
for  it.  Those  insurrections  mentioned  in  "  Article  No.  1  " 
tell  not  of  Northern  "  emissaries  "  and  "  incendiaries,"  but 
point  rather  to  the  working  of  the  slave  mind,  thinking 
and  preparing  for  the  fight.  Dreadful  will  be  that  con- 
test when  it  comes.  It  will  cause  deeper  emotions  than 


90         NORTHERN  INTERFERENCE  WITH  SLAVERY 

"  sincere  regrets."  There  will  be  lamentations  and  weep- 
ing. Our  Southern  friends  will  then  have  to  fight,  not 
Northern  "  abolitionists,"  but  their  own  "  choice  field 
hands,"  their  own  "  blacksmiths,"  and  their  own  "  mechan- 
ics," whose  bodily  frames  will  be  well  developed  for  deeds 
of  physical  prowess.  We  of  the  North  would  save  our 
brethren  from  so  dire  a  ruin,  but  they  seem  determined 
to  engulf  themselves — for  they  refuse  to  let  the  peo- 
ple go. 


CONSTITUTIONALITY  OF  CONSCKIPTION 

This  cry  of  the  unconstitutionality  of  the  draft  is  so  per- 
sistently made  by  Copperheads  and  the  rebel  sympathizers 
that  not  unf requently  loyal  men,  and  law-abiding  men,  are 
found  almost  ready  to  bend  before  the  clamor  and  half 
believe  there  is  really  something  in  the  objection.  We 
do  not  propose  to  discuss  a  constitutional  question  before 
a  mob  who  are  organized  for  the  purposes  of  resistance, 
nor  do  we  expect  to  check  the  cry  of  a  single  rebel  in  this 
city  or  the  country  who,  with  his  Jesuitical  respect  for  law, 
clamors  continually  about  the  unconstitutionality  of  the 
draft.  Our  purpose  is  to  call  the  attention  of  our  intelli- 
gent readers  to  the  sections  of  the  Constitution  which  em- 
power Congress  to  raise  armies,  and  make  a  few  sugges- 
tions so  that  they  may  meet  this  attempt  of  Copperheads 
to  create  a  public  sentiment  that  the  general  government 
is  going  to  press  through  an  unconstitutional  act.  For- 
tunately, on  this  question  there  is  no  nice  legal  point  that 
may  require  the  acumen  of  the  judiciary  to  determine,  as 
in  the  legal  tender  question.  The  power  is  so  plainly 
there  that  none  but  a  captious  man  or  rebel  sympa- 
thizer would  ever  think  of  making  such  an  absurd 
objection. 

Section  8  of  Article  I.  of  the  Constitution  is  divided  into 
seventeen  subdivisions.  The  llth  subdivision  provides 
that  Congress  shall  have  power  "  to  raise  and  support 
armies."  The  12th  subdivision  gives  power  "  to  provide 
and  maintain  a  navy." 


92  CONSTITUTIONALITY  OF  CONSCRIPTION 

The  17th  subdivision  gives  Congress  power  "  to  make 
all  laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying 
into  execution  the  foregoing  powers." 

No  power  is  given  here  to  the  President  to  raise  armies, 
but  it  is  given  to  Congress.  Congress  has  passed  the  laws 
that  they  deem  "  necessary  "  according  to  subdivision  17th. 
Not  one  word  can  be  found  in  the  Constitution  fixing  the 
number  of  the  men  in  either  the  army  or  the  navy  nor  the 
time  of  service.  That  is  left  to  the  representatives  of  the 
people  when  assembled  in  Congress.  It  is  asserted  that 
this  power  to  raise  armies  refers  only  to  what  is  known  as 
the  "  standing  army."  This  is  a  mere  assumption.  The 
term  "  standing  army  "  nowhere  appears  in  the  Constitu- 
tion. The  standing  army  is  but  the  creature  of  Congress, 
created  under  the  above  powers.  The  same  Congress  may 
make  the  laws  which  will  create  a  standing  army,  a  volun- 
teer army,  and  a  drafted  army.  The  words  "  to  raise  and 
support  armies  "  are  the  most  sweeping  that  could  by  any 
possibility  have  been  chosen,  and  stand  unqualified  in  their 
bold  and  naked  power.  Congress  only  can  give  direction 
to  this  power  by  making  the  laws  which  shall  be  "  neces- 
sary and  proper  for  carrying  into  execution  "  such  power. 

The  14th  subdivision  of  the  same  section  says  that 
Congress  shall  have  power  "  To  provide  for  the  calling 
forth  the  militia  to  execute  the  laws  of  the  Union,  suppress 
insurrections,  and  repel  invasions." 

There  is  an  additional  power,  but  it  in  no  manner 
abridges  the  other  power  above  referred  to.  But  this 
section  does  not  say  the  militia  of  the  States.  The  word 
or  the  idea  "  State  "  is  an  interpolation.  At  that  time  it 
was  expected  that  the  militia  would  be  organized  under 
United  States  laws  and  would  be  the  militia  of  the  United 
States. 


CONSTITUTIONALITY  OF  CONSCRIPTION  93 

This  is  evident  from  the  next,  the  15th  subdivision, 
which  says  that  Congress  shall  "  Provide  for  organizing, 
arming,  and  disciplining  the  militia."  Congress  never  has 
done  this,  but  left  the  militia  organizations  wholly  to  the 
States.  There  would  be  much  more  sense  in  claiming  that 
the  general  government  could  not  call  on  the  "  State  " 
militia.  That  having  neglected  to  "  provide  for  organiz- 
ing, arming,  and  disciplining  the  militia,"  there  is  no  or- 
ganized militia  for  them  to  call  on.  The  whole  drift  of 
these  provisions  is  to  put  the  armed  power  of  the  land — 
militia  included — into  the  hands  of  the  general  govern- 
ment. After  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  by  our 
fathers,  they  saw  that  these  provisions  put  all  military 
power  into  the  hands  of  the  general  government,  and  im- 
mediately they  amended  the  Constitution  so  as  to  enlarge 
the  powers  of  the  States,  and  among  the  amendments 
they  adopted  Article  II.,  as  follows:  "A  well-regulated 
militia  being  necessary  to  the  security  of  a  free  State, 
the  right  of  the  people  to  keep  and  bear  arms  shall  not  be 
infringed." 

This  amendment  does  not  deny  to  Congress  the  power  to 
raise  and  maintain  armies  in  any  manner  they  may  see 
fit;  it  only  secured  to  the  States  the  right  to  have  a  "  well- 
regulated  militia."  If  the  Constitution  had  provided  for 
only  a  militia  force,  -to  be  called  on  by  Congress,  and  had 
declared  that  the  several  States  should  "  arm  and  disci- 
pline "  the  militia,  then  this  insane  cry  of  the  unconstitu- 
tionality  of  the  conscription  would  have  something  to  stand 
on.  Fortunately  the  Constitution  lodged  the  power  to 
raise  armies  in  Congress  without  prescribing  the  method, 
and  declares  that  Congress  shall  make  the  laws  necessary 
to  do  so.  All  this  talk  about  the  necessity  of  the  general 
government  calling  on  the  States  for  their  quota  is  the 


94  CONSTITUTIONALITY  OF  CONSCRIPTION 

mere  clap-trap  of  the  politicians.  That  it  is  not  a  con- 
venient and  proper  mode  of  proceeding  we  are  not  arguing 
now.  We  only  say  that  it  is  not  a  necessary  way — that 
the  Constitution  does  not  require  it 


NEW  PARKS 

THE   HISTORY   AND    USES    OF    THE     "SINKING    FUND    FOE    THE 
REDEMPTION    OF   THE   CITY   DEBT  " 

The  New  ParJcs  in  the  Twenty-third  and  Twenty-fourth  Wards  of  the 
City  of  New  TorTc  and  in  the  Adjacent  Territory  of  Westchester  County 

Chapter  522  of  the  Laws  of  1884,  adopting  the  new 
parks,  is  established  law,  and  has  been  since  June  14,  1884. 

The  legislature  adopted  the  report  of  the  commissioners, 
appointed  under  the  Act  of  1883,  locating  and  bounding 
these  parks.  This  was  done  upon  the  fullest  considera- 
tion ;  all  parties  were  repeatedly  heard,  in  committee  and 
before  the  governor;  all  questions  now  raised  (except  in 
regard  to  the  constitutional  amendment)  were  fully  dis- 
cussed by  the  press,  the  commissioners,  the  mayor,  cor- 
poration counsel,  land  owners,  taxpayers,  and  financiers, 
and  thereupon  it  became  a  law.  This  act  also  devised  the 
legal  means  for  their  acquisition  by  proceedings  through 
the  courts.  The  plan  provided  that  after  an  appraisal 
which  is  now  in  progress,  the  lands  to  be  taken  should  be 
paid  for  by  bonds  to  be  issued  by  the  city  of  New  York, 
at  thirty  years,  at  3  per  cent,  per  annum. 

A  question  is  now  raised  as  to  the  power  of  the  city  to 
issue  the  necessary  bonds  by  reason  of  the  amendment  of 
the  constitution  which  went  into  effect  January  1,  1885, 
which  provides  that  "  no  county  containing  a  city  of  over 
one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  or  any  such  city  shall 
be  allowed  to  become  indebted  for  any  purpose,  or  in  any 


96  NEW  PARKS 

manner  to  an  amount  which,  including  existing  indebted- 
ness, shall  exceed  10  per  centum  of  the  assessed  valuation 
of  the  real  estate  *  *  *  as  it  appeared  by  the  last 
assessment,"  etc. 

(In  this  discussion  of  the  indebtedness  I  shall  refer  to 
millions  in  round  numbers  for  convenience'  sake,  omitting 
generally  odd  amounts.) 

It  is  conceded  that  on  the  last  reported  valuation  the 
constitutional  limit  would  have  been  reached  if  the  in- 
debtedness was  $117,000,000.  It  is  in  like  manner  con- 
ceded that  there  is  outstanding  in  the  hands  of  creditors 
but  $92,000,000  of  bonds,  and  in  the  hands  of  the  Com- 
missioners of  the  Sinking  Fund  uncancelled  bonds  to  the 
amount  of  $34,000,000,  which  have  been  paid  with  the 
city's  money. 

If  these  last  bonds  are  to  be  counted  as  a  part  of  the 
debt  of  the  city,  then  the  city  owes  $126,000,000 — and 
has  now  a  debt  of  $9,000,000  in  excess  of  the  constitutional 
limit.  If  these  uncancelled  bonds  in  the  hands  of  the 
commissioners  are  not  to  be  taken  as  a  part  of  the  debt, 
then  the  city  may  issue  at  once  $25,000,000  more  bonds 
before  the  full  limit  of  10  per  cent,  is  reached. 

I  have  examined  the  city  ordinances  since  the  founda- 
tion of  the  present  financial  system  creating  the  Board  of 
Sinking  Fund  Commissioners,  and  all  the  laws  and  author- 
ities that  I  can  find,  or  that  have  been  referred  to  by  the 
supporters  of  the  theory  that  our  debt  is  $126,000,000,  and 
am  clearly  of  the  opinion  that  there  is  no  foundation  for 
the  claim  that  the  city  is  in  debt,  whether  in  fact,  or  by 
way  of  pledge,  in  any  sum  exceeding  $92,000,000. 

It  is  due  to  the  importance  of  this  question  that  I  should 
state  briefly  the  reasons  that  have  brought  me  to  this 
conclusion. 


NEW  PARKS  97 

To  understand  the  working  of  any  sinking  fund  it  is 
necessary  to  examine  the  contracts,  resolutions,  ordinances, 
or  legislative  acts,  as  the  case  may  be,  that  lie  at  the  foun- 
dation of  each  particular  scheme.  There  is  no  general 
rule  applicable  to  all  sinking  fund  schemes  alike,  except 
the  one  general  rule  that  the  funds  in  each  case  must  be 
applied  in  accordance  with  the  contract,  resolution,  or- 
dinances, or  legislative  acts  governing  each  individual  case. 
A  mode  of  marshalling  funds  that  would  be  proper  in  one 
case  would  not  be  proper  in  another ;  hence  the  necessity 
of  examining  the  foundation  of  the  New  York  City  sinking, 
fund  scheme. 

On  June  8,  1812,  the  legislature  passed  the  first  act,  au- 
thorizing a  city  debt  of  $900,000.  By  the  ninth  section  it 
was  provided :  "  That  the  faith  of  the  said  mayor,  alder- 
men, and  commonalty  of  the  city  of  New  York  shall  be 
pledged  for  the  final  redemption  and  payment  of  the  stock, 
which  shall  or  may  be  created  pursuant  to  the  provisions 
of  this  Act;  and  that  all  and  singular  the  revenues  of  the 
mayor,  aldermen,  and  commonalty  shall  be  and  they  are- 
hereby  appropriated  and  pledged  for  the  payment  of:  the 
interest  which  shall  become  due  on  the  said  stock,  and 
shall  continue  so  pledged  until  the  final  redemption  of  the 
said  stock." 

It  will  be  seen  that  here  is  a  pledge  of  the  revenues  to* 
two  purposes:  first,  the  payment  of  the  interest;: second, 
the  "  final  redemption  "  of  the  stock. 

At  that  early  day  the  mere  pledge  of  the  corporation  to 
devote  the  revenues  of  the  city  to  the  above  purposes  did 
not  satisfy  creditors  and  sustain  the  credit  of  the  city 
stocks.  After  a  trial  of  one  year,  and  on  the  13th  of 
August,  1813,  the  corporation  of  New  York  passed  the  first 
ordinance  establishing  a  Board  of  Sinking  Fund  Commis- 
7 


98  NEW  PARKS 

sioners  and  declaring  their  duties  and  functions.  The 
ordinance  recited  "  that  it  was  highly  desirable  to  establish 
a  fund,  out  of  which  purchases  of  the  New  York  City's 
stock  may  be  made  from  time  to  time,  whenever  the  same 
can  be  done  at  par  or  the  true  value  thereof;  whereby 
the  said  stock  will  be  prevented  from  depreciating,  and 
the  redemption  of  the  same  will  be  regularly  progressing." 
Therefore  it  was  ordained :  "  That  all  moneys  heretofore 
received,  and  hereafter  to  be  received,  for  commutation  of 
quit  rents  on  grants  issued  prior  to  the  year  1804;  all  quit 
rents  arising  from  such  grants  as  shall  not  be  commuted; 
and  all  moneys  heretofore  received  and  hereafter  to  be 
received  for  licenses  to  pawnbrokers  and  dealers  in  the 
purchase  or  sale  of  second-hand  furniture,  metals,  or 
clothes;  for  hackney  coach  licenses,  and  for  street  vaults, 
all  market  fees  and  market  rents;  25  per  cent,  on 
all  sales  of  real  estate  belonging  to  the  corporation,  and 
hereafter  to  be  sold — and  all  such  other  sources  of  revenue 
or  sums  of  money  as  the  said  corporation  shall  hereafter 
think  proper  to  appropriate  for  that  purpose,  shall  be  and 
hereby  are  firmly  pledged,  appropriated,  and  applied  to, 
and  shall  constitute  and  form  the  fund  for  the  purpose 
aforesaid,  until  the  redemption  of  the  whole  of  such  stock." 
By  the  second  section,  the  mayor,  recorder,  comptroller, 
and  treasurer  of  the  city,  with  the  chairman  of  the  Finance 
Committee  for  the  time  being,  were  constituted  a  board 
to  discharge  the  trust  and  duties  imposed  by  the  ordinances, 
to  be  denominated  "  The  Commissioners  of  the  Sinking 
Fund  for  the  Redemption  of  the  New  York  City  Stock." 
In  this  ordinance  we  find  the  foundation  upon  which 
the  whole  structure  of  the  present  financial  system  of  New 
York  stands  to-day.  It  contemplates,  first,  securing  to 
the  creditors  that  the  pledged  revenues  shall  go  to  a 


NEW  PARKS  99 

"  board  "  to  discharge  the  trust ;  second,  it  designates  the 
twofold  character  of  the  trust — viz.,  to  pay  the  interest 
as  it  accrues,  and  to  purchase  stock  from  "  time  to  time  " 
so  that  "  the  redemption  of  the  same  will  be  regularly 
progressing." 

Other  ordinances  and  laws  have  since  been  passed,  but 
none  that  change  the  scheme  or  plan  here  laid  down. 
Purchases  of  stocks  or  bonds  of  the  city  are  not  invest- 
ments of  the  funds  of  the  city,  but  are  an  application  of 
those  funds  to  the  "  regular  "  and  "  progressive  "  redemp- 
tion of  the  city's  debt.  A  city  bond  once  in  the  hands  of 
the  Sinking  Fund  Commissioners  is  from  that  moment  a 
redeemed  bond,  redeemed  with  the  city's  revenues  pledged 
for  that  purpose,  and  placed  in  the  commissioners'  hands 
to  be  so  applied. 

Various  other  loans  were  authorized  between  1812  and 
1844,  all  upon  the  same  plan  as  the  loan  of  1812,  pledging 
the  same  revenues,  and  oilier  revenues,  but  in  each  case 
preserving  the  priority  of  lien  of  the  respective  loans. 
The  principal  debt  authorized  during  that  time  was  the 
Croton  water  loan  of  1834  for  $2,500,000.  The  demands 
upon  the  sinking  fund  increased  from  time  to  time  as  the 
debt  of  the  city  increased,  and  to  meet  such  demands  other 
pledges  of  revenue  were  made  to  the  sinking  fund.  Among 
the  methods  adopted  to  increase  the  "  sinking  fund  "  was 
a  pledge  of  the  interest  on  the  redeemed  bonds  held  by 
them.  The  system  of  pledging  interest  to  accrue  on  the 
redeemed  bonds  took  form  in  the  following  ordinance : 

"  The  city  stock  which  shall  be  purchased  by  the  com- 
missioners shall  not  be  cancelled  by  them  until  the  final 
redemption  of  the  said  stock,  and  all  interest  accruing 
thereon  shall  be  regularly  carried  to  the  said  sinking  fund, 
for  the  city  debt."  (Ordinance  of  1859,  Chap.  9,  §  12.) 


100  NEW  PARKS 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  principal  of  these  redeemed 
bonds  is  not  pledged  for  any  purpose  whatever.  They 
are  left  uncancelled  so  that  the  accruing  interest  may 
form  the  measure  of  an  additional  stream  of  revenue  to 
the  fund  for  the  "  redemption  of  the  city  debt."  There 
is  no  suggestion  of  a  pledge  of  the  principal  of  these 
redeemed  bonds  for  any  purpose.  Although  redeemed 
and  paid,  they  are  to  remain  uncancelled,  so  that  the  ac- 
cruing interest  may  measure  a  fund  to  be  applied  to  the 
redemption  of  other  bonds. 

The  suggestion  that  "  they  shall  not  be  cancelled " 
shows  the  utter  worthlessness  of  the  bonds  after  their 
redemption.  If  they  had  any  value,  it  is  strange  that  the 
Common  Council  should  have  felt  called  upon  to  pass  a 
solemn  ordinance  forbidding  the  cancellation  of  good  secu- 
rities that  were  held  in  pledge.  As  well  pass  an  ordinance 
directing  the  commissioners  not  to  burn  bank  bills  belong- 
ing to  the  city.  They  are  only  held  uncancelled  by  virtue 
of  the  ordinance. 

The  argument  that  as  soon  as  a  city  bond  passes  into 
the  hands  of  the  Sinking  Fund  Commissioners  it  is  ipso 
facto  from  that  moment  redeemed,  is  further  confirmed 
when  we  consider  that  as  far  back  as  1844  the  revenues 
of  the  sinking  fund  were  divided  into  two  parts :  one  part 
was  devoted  to  the  payment  of  the  interest,  and  the  other 
to  the  redemption  of  the  city  debt.  This  division  is  kept 
up  to  the  present  day.  Two  accounts  are  kept  by  the 
comptroller;  one  entitled  "  revenues  of  the  sinking  fund 
for  the  redemption  of  the  city  debt."  The  revenues  in 
this  account  from  twenty-five  different  sources,  reported  in 
1883,  were  over  $7,000,000.  The  other  account  is  en- 
titled "  revenues  of  the  sinking  fund  for  the  payment 
of  interest  on  the  city  debt."  The  revenue  in  this  account 


NEW  PARKS  101 

was  in  1883  derived  from  eleven  sources  and  amounted 
to  over  $2,436,000. 

The  revenues  for  the  redemption  of  the  city  debt  are 
increasing  at  the  rate  of  more  than  $500,000  per  annum, 
so  that  if  past  experience  is  a  guide  we  shall  soon  have 
a  redemption  fund  of  $10,000,000  each  year. 

Can  it  be  contended  that  a  debt  is  any  the  less  redeemed 
and  paid  because  paid  out  of  the  cash  revenues  of  the  city 
in  advance  of  the  due  day  printed  on  the  bonds  ? 

Some  very  absurd  conclusions  result  from  holding  that 
a  bond  paid  for  out  of  the  revenues  of  the  city  devoted 
to  the  redemption  of  the  city  debt  is  not  redeemed,  but 
is  still  a  debt  of  the  city.  The  holders  of  this  theory  tell  us 
that  the  net  debt  is  $92,000,000,  but  the  real  debt  within 
the  meaning  of  the  constitution  is  $126,000,000,  because 
the  Sinking  Fund  Commissioners  hold  $34,000,000  of 
uncancelled  bonds.  Very  well,  suppose  the  city  collects 
in  a  day  $92,000,000,  and  pays  all  the  bonds  not  in 
the  hands  of  the  Sinking  Fund  Commissioners.  Will 
the  city  then  owe  $34,000,000,  when  no  human  being 
can  for  any  purpose  whatever  collect  one  cent  of  the 
$34,000,000  ?  How,  then,  can  the  city  be  in  debt  within 
the  meaning  of  the  constitution  $126,000,000  and  yet  be 
able  to  get  out  of  debt  by  paying  $92,000,000  ?  But,  again, 
suppose  the  Sinking  Fund  Commissioners  within  the  next 
ten  years,  with  its  magnificent  revenues,  are  able  to  in- 
crease their  holding  of  uncancelled  bonds,  so  as  to  absorb 
all  the  bonds,  and  they  shall  be  able  to  show  in  possession 
$126,000,000,  instead  of  $34,000,000  as  at  present,  and 
suppose  there  are  no  other  bonds  outstanding,  will  the 
city  be  in  this  anomalous  position,  that  it  will  not  owe  a 
bond  to  any  creditor,  and  yet  by  reason  of  these  redeemed 
bonds  being  uncancelled  in  the  commissioners'  hands,  still 


102  NEW  PARKS 

be  in  debt  $126,000,000  within  the  intent  of  the  consti- 
tution ? 

The  fallacy  in  the  reasoning  of  those  who  contend  that 
the  city  debt  is  $126,000,000  consists  in  calling  the  re- 
deemed but  uncancelled  bonds  in  the  hands  of  the  Sinking 
Fund  Commissioners  "  assets  "  or  "  investments."  They 
are  neither  the  one  nor  the  other.  They  were  simply  in 
the  hands  of  the  commissioners  evidence  that  the  annual 
resources  of  the  city  devoted  to  the  "  redemption  of  the 
city  debt "  have  been  so  applied  by  the  commissioners, 
and  that  in  the  language  of  the  old  ordinance  of  1813, 
creating  the  Board  of  Sinking  Fund  Commissioners,  the 
"  redemption  of  the  same  will  be  (has  been)  regularly 
progressing." 

When  the  day  arrives  for  these  uncancelled  bonds,  by 
their  terms,  to  fall  due,  they  expire,  by  their  own  limita- 
tions, without  the  payment  of  another  dollar.  Then,  ac- 
cording to  the  theory,  $34,000,000  of  indebtedness  is 
wiped  out  without  payment. 

The  argument  that  has  been  advanced,  that  because  in 
one  contingency  these  bonds  may  be  reissued  by  the  com- 
missioners, that  therefore  they  are  not  to  be  considered 
as  redeemed  bonds  in  the  commissioners'  bands,  is  not 
sound.  There  is  only  one  contingency  in  which  they  may 
be  reissued,  but  they  can  never  be  reissued  so  as  to  again 
add  to  the  volume  of  the  debt.  To  illustrate,  if  there  is 
presently  due,  say  $10,000,000  of  bonds,  and  the  revenues 
of  the  commissioners  are  not  sufficient  to  pay  the  $10,- 
000,000,  the  commissioners  can  undoubtedly  reissue  from 
their  redeemed  bonds  that  have  a  long  time  to  run  a  suf- 
ficient amount  to  enable  them  to  take  up  the  earlier  matur- 
ing bonds,  which,  when  taken  up,  are  cancelled.  By  this 
process  no  increase  is  made  to  the  debt,  but  the  day  of 


NEW  PARKS  103 

payment  is  postponed.  The  debt  is  the  same  in  amount 
as  it  was  before  the  reissue.  The  particular  piece  of 
paper  called  a  bond  changes  its  character  under  such  cir- 
cumstances from  a  redeemed  bond  to  a  lawfully  issued 
bond  by  a  new  contract,  and  then  represents  a  liability  of 
the  city. 

This  is  a  valueless  power  in  the  hands  of  the  commis- 
sioners, because  the  cash  revenues  of  the  sinking  fund 
applicable  to  the  redemption  of  the  city  debt  for  the  next 
twenty-five  years  will  exceed  the  amount  of  bonds  that 
will  mature  each  year  during  that  time. 

Although  not  strictly  germane  to  the  legal  argument, 
I  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  my  astonishment  at  the 
soundness  of  the  finances  of  the  city  after  a  somewhat  care- 
ful examination  of  several  reports  of  the  comptroller  made 
from  time  to  time.  The  net  debt  of  the  city  in  1876  was 
$115,000,000,  the  largest  sum  it  ever  reached.  At  the 
present  time  it  is  about  $92,000,000,  showing  a  reduction 
of  about  $23,000,000.  Formerly  the  city  paid  6  and 
7  per  cent,  interest;  now  the  rate  is  being  gradually  re- 
duced to  3|  or  4  per  cent.,  as  bonds  bearing  a  high  rate 
of  interest  fall  due.  On  the  other  hand,  the  assessed 
valuation  in  the  city  for  five  years  has  increased  at  an 
average  rate  of  over  $46,000,000  a  year.  Since  1876, 
when  the  debt  was  the  highest,  the  taxable  values  of  real 
estate  have  increased  $282,529,720.  The  revenues  of 
the  sinking  fund  applicable  to  the  redemption  of  the 
public  debt  have  risen  since  1880  from  $4,951,237.04  to 
$7,355,064.17  in  1884.  With  such  a  financial  showing 
there  is  no  reason  why  the  city  should  not  secure  to  itself 
such  needed  advantages  as  its  future  growth  will  require. 

The  attempt,  by  alarming  the  taxpayers,  to  defeat  or 
repeal  the  New  Parks  Act,  on  the  ground  of  want  of  ability 


104  NEW  PARKS 

in  the  city  to  pay  for  them  by  its  bonds,  falls  to  the 
ground. 

The  city  will  never  again  be  greatly  overburdened  with 
debt  by  its  needed  improvements.  Its  financial  condition 
is  so  sound  that  its  only  danger  can  arise  from  corruption, 
jobbery,  and  extravagance  in  the  administration  of  its  af- 
fairs. The  people  will  always  do  well  to  watch  the  admin- 
istration of  the  affairs  of  the  city,  but  need  feel  no  alarm 
at  the  progress  of  needed  improvements,  so  long  as  they  are 
going  forward  honestly  and  economically,  as  the  like  im- 
provements would  go  forward  in  the  hands  of  a  private 
citizen.  The  mayor  who  will  give  us  such  a  business 
administration  would  earn  a  lasting  fame  and  endear  him- 
self to  the  people. 


LAND  TRANSFER  REFORM 

The  undersigned,  members  of  the  Committee  of  the  Bar 
Association  appointed  on  the  llth  day  of  January,  1887, 
to  examine  into  the  whole  subject  of  proposed  reform  of 
land  transfers,  are  unable  to  agree  with  the  report  made 
by  the  majority  of  this  committee  in  favor  of  the  so-called 
lot  plan.  As  stated  in  the  majority  report,  the  committee 
are  unanimous  that  the  block  system  would  be  a  great 
improvement  upon  the  present  system  of  land  registry  in 
this  city,  and  would  obviate  the  chief  difficulties  that  now 
interfere  with  the  easy  and  rapid  transfer  of  real  estate. 
The  committee  divide  upon  the  question  as  to  which  of 
these  two  modes  would  be  the  more  practicable  and  easily 
administered  and  understood  by  the  public.  For  the  pur- 
pose of  showing  the  grounds  for  the  dissent  of  the  under- 
signed from  the  report  of  the  majority,  an  examination 
of  some  of  the  provisions  of  the  bill  now  pending  before 
the  legislature  and  called  the  "  Lot  System  Bill "  should 
be  had. 

In  the  lot  system,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind,  two  things 
must  concur  to  make  a  record  of  a  transfer  of  real  estate. 
The  making  and  recording  of  a  deed  have  no  effect  under 
that  system  of  giving  notice,  but,  on  the  contrary,  a  deed 
left  in  that  position  alone  has  only  the  effect  of  an  unre- 
corded deed.  We  turn,  therefore,  to  the  bill  to  ascertain 
what  it  is  that  is  to  give  vitality  and  force  to  this  usual  act 
of  recording.  By  Section  6,  the  deed,  mortgage,  or  other 
instrument  to  be  recorded  is  called  the  "chief  instrument." 


106  LAND  TRANSFER  REFORM 

There  is  to  be  affixed  thereto  another  instrument,  which  is 
to  be  in  writing,  subscribed  by  one  or  more  of  the  parties 
to  the  chief  instrument,  or  his  or  their  agent  or  attorney, 
duly  acknowledged  or  proved,  specifying  the  lot  number 
which  is  intended  to  be  conveyed.  The  purpose  of  this 
secondary  instrument  is  to  specify  the  particular  lot  upon 
which  the  chief  instrument  is  to  take  effect  by  way  of  con- 
veyance or  lien.  It  must  be  remembered,  therefore,  in 
the  discussion  of  this  bill,  that  at  all  times,  to  effect  legal 
notice  of  any  transaction  in  real  estate,  two  instruments 
are  to  be  prepared:  the  first  of  no  validity  whatever  for 
purposes  of  notice,  the  second  one  to  give  validity  to  the 
first  instrument  as  notice.  It  becomes,  therefore,  of  vital 
importance  that  the  second  instrument  shall  designate  with 
absolute  certainty  the  lot  upon  which  the  chief  instrument 
is  to  take  effect.  And  here  comes  one  of  the  great  diffi- 
culties of  the  lot  system.  Confessedly,  there  are  no  cor- 
rect maps  of  the  lots  in  the  city  of  New  York.  It  would 
be  a  formidable  undertaking  to  make  a  survey  of  every 
lot;  moreover,  it  is  not  easy  to  see  how  any  act  could  be 
framed  authorizing  any  surveyor  or  body  of  surveyors  to 
survey  and  fix  the  boundaries  of  the  lots  so  as  to  bind  all 
parties  in  interest.  To  meet  this  difficulty,  the  scheme  of 
lot  transfer  recurs  to  what  are  known  as  the  tax  maps  of 
the  city  of  New  York,  and  provides  that  two  duplicates 
of  those  tax  maps  shall  be  transmitted  to  the  ^Register's 
Office  for  the  purpose  of  serving  as  maps  of  approximate 
accuracy  on  which  to  designate  lands  conveyed  or  encum- 
bered by  the  chief  instrument.  One  of  these  maps  is  to 
be  devoted  to  conveyances,  the  other  to  mortgages,  in  the 
Register's  Office.  The  vital  point  of  notice,  therefore, 
turns  upon  the  accuracy  of  these  maps.  As  they  are  con- 
fessedly unreliable,  the  bill  provides  that  when  the  second 


LAND  TRANSFER  REFORM  107 

instrument  is  filed  with  the  chief  instrument  it  may  desig- 
nate as  many  lots  as  the  party  may  elect  to  designate,  so 
as  to  be  sure  that  his  designation  shall  certainly  embrace 
all  the  land  within  the  metes  and  bounds  of  the  chief  in- 
strument. If,  however,  in  the  opinion  of  the  conveyancer, 
the  lot  described  on  the  tax  map  shall  coincide  exactly  with 
the  metes  and  bounds  or  description  in  the  chief  instru- 
ment, he  may  then  designate  but  that  one  lot;  so  that 
this  system  in  its  perfection  will  exist  only  in  case  of  a 
perfect  coincidence  of  lot  with  the  description  in  the 
deed. 

It  would  seem  as  if  a  person  who  had  succeeded  in  get- 
ting once  such  a  perfect  record  need  never  again  have 
further  trouble  in  the  Register's  Office  touching  the  record 
of  his  title.  An  examination  of  the  bill,  however,  shows 
that  these  maps,  imperfect  as  they  are,  are  subject  to  con- 
stant and  curious  changes.  Section  4  provides  that  when- 
ever the  location  or  dimension  of  any  lot  on  the  tax  maps 
shall  vary  materially  from  the  location  or  dimension  of 
such  lot  as  actually  in  possession  and  enclosed  by 
walls  and  fences,  or  a  wall  and  fence,  and  such  pos- 
session shall  have  existed  for  two  years  preceding  the 
application;  the  owner  of  such  lot  may  apply  to  the 
Tax  Commissioners  to  correct  the  tax  maps.  His  appli- 
cation must  be  based  on  an  affidavit  and  survey  of  a 
city  surveyor.  Upon  such  application  it  becomes  the  duty 
of  the  Tax  Commissioners  to  examine  the  matter,  and,  if 
they  see  fit,  they  may  cause  notice  to  be  given  to  the  adja- 
cent owner,  and  the  Tax  Commissioners  shall,  in  their  dis- 
cretion, make  a  change  in  the  maps,  so  as  to  conform  to 
what  they  believe  to  be  the  actual  possession  and  enclosure, 
and  make  proper  corrections  on  the  tax  maps.  Thus  it 
will  be  seen  that  an  owner  who  has  once  got,  by  the  con- 


108  LAND  TRANSFER  REFORM 

junction  of  a  perfect  tax  lot  with  his  description  in  the 
deed,  a  perfect  record  title  for  his  land,  is  liable  to  be 
summoned  to  the  Tax  Commissioners'  Office  to  defend,  not 
his  title,  but  that  which  is  of  almost  equal  importance,  the 
record  of  his  title.  He  may  not  only  be  summoned  there 
once,  but  he  may  be  summoned  for  this  purpose  by  every 
adjoining  owner.  We  think  it  would  be  a  startling  propo- 
sition to  the  holders  of  real  estate  in  this  city  to  know 
that,  in  subsequent  years,  after  they  had  secured  a  perfect 
record  title,  at  any  time,  at  the  instance  of  any  adjoining 
owner,  and  of  as  many  adjoining  owners  as  they  have, 
they  must  appear  at  the  Tax  Office  to  see  to  it  that  no 
changes  shall  be  made  in  the  map  in  the  Tax  Office  which 
shall  imperil  the  record  of  their  title. 

But  there  is  a  further  difficulty  about  this  notice  to 
owners  to  appear  before  the  Tax  Commissioners  whenever 
a  change  is  to  be  made  in  a  map.  How  is  this  notice  to  be 
given  ?  Presumably  by  mail.  But  suppose  that  the  owner 
is  out  of  town,  and,  perhaps,  spending  his  summer  vacation 
in  Europe.  If  he  fail  to  appear  or  to  have  somebody  repre- 
sent him  the  adjoining  owner  may  effect  such  changes  in 
the  map  as  he  can  induce  the  Tax  Commissioners  to  make. 
Thus  it  would  seem  that  no  owner  of  real  estate  can  be 
absent  from  the  city  for  any  considerable  length  of  time 
without  designating  some  agent  who  shall  stand  guard  over 
the  record  of  his  title.  But  in  all  cases,  whether  the  owner 
is  in  the  city  or  absent,  it  makes  him  trouble  to  go  per- 
sonally to  the  Tax  Office,  or  it  makes  him  expense  to 
employ  an  attorney  or  agent  to  go  there.  What  would  be 
the  amount  of  this  trouble  or  expense  that  would  be  put 
upon  a  land  owner  we  will  not  venture  to  conjecture.  It 
is  enough  that  the  scheme  of  the  bill  provides  for  some 
trouble  and  some  expense  to  be  incurred  by  every  land 


LAND  TRANSFER  REFORM  109 

owner,  even  after  he  has  once  secured  a  perfect  record 
title. 

The  loose  and  careless  manner  in  which  this  bill  was 
drawn  on  this  point  was  so  apparent  to  the  Committee  of 
Seven  that  they  were  unanimously  of  the  opinion  that,  if 
the  bill  were  to  pass,  it  should  be  amended  in  two  particu- 
lars. First,  that  the  option  given  to  the  Tax  Commis- 
sioners to  notify  the  adjoining  owner  to  appear  should  be 
taken  away  from  them,  and  that  that  duty  should  be  made 
mandatory  upon  them.  Secondly,  that  the  Tax  Commis- 
sioners should  preserve  a  written  record  of.  any  change 
made  by  them,  by  an  entry,  fixing  the  date  and  time  of 
such  change.  That  was  the  best  result  that  the  Com- 
mittee of  Seven  could  arrive  at.  If  the  bill  be  treated  as 
amended  as  recommended  by  the  Committee  of  Seven,  the 
difficulty  is  not  overcome.  It  still  remains  true  that  the 
land  owner  is  subject  from  time  to  time  to  be  summoned  to 
appear  at  the  Tax  Commissioners'  Office,  either  in  person 
or  by  attorney.  He  may  then  protest  against  the  change 
as  being  adverse  to  his  interest,  but  the  change  may,  never- 
theless, take  place,  and  the  record  of  the  change  shall  be 
by  such  marks  and  in  such  words  as  the  Tax  Commission- 
ers may  see  fit  to  put  down;  and  these  may  not  be  satis- 
factory to  the  land  owner  as  in  his  judgment  serving  as  a 
sufficiently  careful  record  of  the  change  then  made. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  a  person  may  start  with  a  per- 
fect record  and  yet  be  called  upon  from  time  to  time  to 
preserve  that  record  from  change;  and  he  may  be  com- 
pelled to  witness  such  changes  in  the  record  as  will  be 
entirely  unsatisfactory  to  him  and  leave  him  in  difficulty 
at  some  future  time  to  prove  what  was  the  exact  condition 
of  the  map  at  the  time  he  recorded  his  deed.  In  this  city, 
where  a  foot  of  ground,  or  a  few  inches  even,  are  of  vast 


110  LAND  TRANSFER  REFORM 

importance,  we  should  hesitate  long  before  adopting  such 
a  system,  unless  there  be  some  overmastering  reason  why 
it  should  be  adopted. 

Recurring  again  to  the  principle  that  a  perfect  record 
only  occurs  when  there  is  absolute  coincidence  of  descrip- 
tion in  the  chief  instrument  with  the  designation  of  land 
on  the  map,  it  is  interesting  to  see  how  this  scheme  pro- 
vides for  changes  and  almost  mutilation  of  maps,  and  also 
provides  innumerable  chances  for  mistakes.  If  the  maps, 
through  incompetence,  carelessness,  or  neglect  of  the  per- 
sons having  charge  of  them,  be  not  kept  and  changed  with 
absolute  perfection,  the  system  falls  into  confusion.  By 
the  first  section  of  the  bill  it  is  provided  that  when  new 
lots  are  formed  out  of  previously  existing  plots  or  lots, 
entries  shall  be  made  thereon — (which  we  suppose  means 
on  the  map) — but  it  provides  that  such  entries  shall  be 
made  in  "  different  colored  ink,  or  by  a  diagram  or  other- 
wise." 

As  a  specimen  of  loose  description  of  the  duties  of  an 
officer,  we  think  this  would  stand  out  without  parallel,  if 
it  once  should  appear  on  the  statute  books.  It  is  notorious 
that  inks  change  in  color  by  time ;  therefore,  so  far  as  dif- 
ferent colored  inks  are  to  play  a  part  in  the  record  of  a 
land  title,  the  provision  is  valueless.  What  the  framers 
intended  by  providing  first  as  to  ink,  then  as  to  diagram, 
and  then  adding  "  or  otherwise  " — that  is,  that  the  change 
may  be  made  otherwise  than  by  ink  or  diagram — we  do  not 
know.  It  certainly  would  be  "  otherwise  "  to  use  an 
eraser,  and,  except  for  an  amendment  which  is  recom- 
mended by  the  Committee  of  Seven,  we  fail  to  see  why  it 
is  not  fairly  within  the  provisions  of  this  section  of  the  bill 
that  an  eraser  might  be  used. 

The  framers  of  the  bill  evidently  contemplate  that  a 


LAND  TRANSFER  REFORM  111 

map  may  become  so  marked  up  and  mutilated  as  to  be 
unfit  for  further  use,  for  they  have  provided  in  the  same 
section  that  when,  in  the  judgment  of  the  superintendent 
of  the  Land  Register,  alterations  and  changes  have  been 
made  so  as  to  render  it  (the  map)  unsuitable  and  incon- 
venient to  continue  longer  in  practical  use  for  reference, 
a  new  map  may  be  made  in  place  and  stead  of  the  old  map, 
showing  the  several  lots  contained  therein,  with  their  loca- 
tion, dimension,  and  numbering  at  the  time  being,  which 
is  to  be  substituted  for  the  old  map.  Here  is  a  fine  chance 
for  mistakes  and  errors  to  be  committed.  To  guard  against 
this,  the  bill  provides  that  the  old  map  shall  be  preserved, 
to  be  referred  to  in  case  of  need.  We  submit  that,  as  the 
maps  play  so  important  a  part  in  the  record  of  title,  such 
a  substitution  of  a  new  one  for  an  old  one,  made  at  the 
instance  of  the  superintendent  of  the  Land  Register,  per- 
haps by  an  incompetent  person,  is,  to  say  the  least,  an 
unsatisfactory  method  of  preserving  record  title. 

It  will  be  observed  that,  by  the  fourth  section  of  the  bill, 
changes  are  to  be  made  from  time  to  time  on  the  map  in 
the  Tax  Commissioners'  Office;  first,  upon  the  application 
of  an  adjoining  owner,  as  before  mentioned;  but  the  bill 
goes  on  to  provide  that  nothing  in  this  section  contained 
shall  impair  or  affect  the  right  of  the  Tax  Commissioners 
to  make  corrections  on  the  tax  maps  without  such  applica- 
tions as  aforesaid.  So  that  the  foundation  maps  or  the 
maps  in  the  Tax  Commissioners'  Office  are  always  subject 
to  change  by  those  officers.  By  the  first  section  of  the 
bill  the  curious  scheme  has  been  devised  of  having  the 
changes  that  are  made  from  time  to  time  on  the  tax  maps 
transferred  to  the  Land  Register  Index  and  accompanying 
maps,  so  as  to  make  the  latter  conform  to  the  changes  in 
the  tax  maps.  All  such  changes,  however,  shall  be  made 


112  LAND  TRANSFER  REFORM 

to  take  effect  as  of  the  first  day  of  September;  but,  in  order 
to  provide  time  for  making  such  changes,  it  seems  that 
this  scheme  allows  the  superintendent  to  begin  making 
them  on  the  first  day  of  June  preceding.  There  is  a  period, 
therefore,  between  the  first  of  June  and  the  first  of  Sep- 
tember, during  which  it  is  not  easy  to  determine  which  set 
of  maps  are  to  prevail,  whether  those  that  have  been 
altered  in  the  Tax  Commissioners'  Office  or  those  that  are 
undergoing  alterations  in  the  Land  Register's  Office,  for 
section  4  provides  that  when  changes  are  made  upon  the 
tax  maps  of  the  city  of  New  York  the  Tax  Commissioners 
shall  give  notice  in  writing  to  the  superintendent  of  the 
Land  Register  of  all  such  changes,  with  such  specification 
or  particulars  in  relation  thereto  as  shall  give  to  such  super- 
intendent the  information  necessary  to  enable  him  so  to 
change  the  Land  Register  Index  and  maps  as  to  make  the 
same  conform  to  such  changes  in  the  tax  maps,  but  the 
superintendent,  for  the  purpose  of  making  such  changes, 
shall  likewise  be  entitled  to  full  and  free  access  to  the  tax 
maps.  Now,  as  the  bill  in  the  same  section  provides  that 
the  Tax  Commissioners  may  make  changes  in  their  maps 
at  all  times  upon  application  of  parties  in  interest,  and 
the  provisions  last  quoted  above  seem  to  contemplate  that 
notice  of  such  changes  shall  be  sent  immediately  to  the 
Land  Register  superintendent,  to  enable  him  to  make 
changes  to  conform  with  the  tax  maps,  the  query  arises 
whether  he  is  to  make  changes  from  time  to  time  during 
the  year,  or  whether  he  is  limited  by  the  other  provisions 
of  the  bill  to  make  changes  only  between  the  first  of  June 
and  the  first  of  September.  If  the  latter  construction  shall 
be  maintained,  the  notices  will  probably  accumulate  in  his 
office  during  the  nine  months  of  the  year,  and  the  changes 
would  be  gradually  going  on  in  the  Tax  Commissioners' 


LAND  TRANSFER  REFORM  113 

Office  for  the  whole  year,  while  in  the  Land  Register's 
Office  changes  could  only  be  made  during  three  months. 
Thus  the  two  systems  of  maps  could  only  coincide  during 
a  short  period  of  the  year,  and  yet  the  foundation  of  title 
rests  upon  the  tax  maps.  Here,  again,  is  a  great  oppor- 
tunity for  confusion  and  mistakes  through  carelessness 
or  incompetence. 

Bearing  in  mind,  again,  that  the  essential  feature  of 
this  system  is  that  the  chief  instrument  forms  no  function 
for  purposes  of  notice  without  the  aid  of  a  secondary  in- 
strument to  designate  the  lot  which  the  chief  instrument 
describes,  we  are  brought  to  another  curious  anomaly  in 
this  system.  If,  by  mistake,  the  lot  designated  by  the 
secondary  instrument  in  the  first  instance  should  happen 
to  embrace  only  part  of  the  area  described  in  the  chief 
instrument,  at  any  time  after  the  discovery  of  that  mis- 
take a  new  designation  of  a  lot  or  lots  is  provided  for  in 
section  6.  By  such  new  designation  the  chief  instrument 
becomes  for  all  practical  purposes  a  recorded  instrument 
for  the  entire  area  embraced  within  it;  so  that  a  deed  or 
a  mortgage  called  a  chief  instrument  may  be  recorded  and 
may  stand  for  a  time  as  a  recorded  instrument  giving  legal 
notice  against  a  part  of  the  area  described  in  the  chief 
instrument,  and,  by  a  subsequent  designation  after  a  lapse 
of  time,  it  may  become  a  fully  recorded  instrument  for  the 
whole  area.  So  that  it  may  stand  as  notice  to  purchasers 
for  part  of  the  land  embraced  within  it  for  a  time,  and 
then,  by  subsequent  action,  through  another  instrument, 
be  expanded  to  include  the  whole  land  embraced  within 
its  description.  During  this  interim,  between  the  first 
imperfect  designation  and  the  second  perfect  one,  all  sorts 
of  equities  may  arise  in  purchases  of  adjoining  lots,  which 
will  present  some  very  curious  questions  to  be  decided  by 
8 


114  LAND  TRANSFER  REFORM 

the  court.  A  fee  is  prescribed  of  twenty-five  cents  for 
each  plot  mentioned  in  the  first  designation  when  the  chief 
instrument  is  recorded,  but  if  there  has  been  a  mistake 
made,  and  the  purchaser  or  mortgagee  desires  to  designate 
other  lots  to  come  within  the  scope  of  his  chief  instru- 
ment, the  bill  prescribes  that  he  shall  pay  a  penalty  of 
two  dollars  for  each  lot  indexed  against  by  such  supple- 
mentary designation. 

There  are  many  other  criticisms  that  might  be  indulged 
in  respecting  the  operations  of  this  novel  scheme  in  the 
Registry  Office.  We  turn  now  to  the  consideration  of  the 
plan  in  its  practical  workings,  outside  of  the  Tax  and 
Register's  Office  and  with  the  public.  When  a  deed  is 
drawn  in  an  office  under  the  present  system,  after  it  has 
been  duly  executed  and  acknowledged,  it  may  be  sent  to 
the  Register's  Office  by  any  office  boy,  or  any  person  of 
the  smallest  intelligence  may  be  the  messenger,  who  has 
no  other  duty  to  perform  than  to  leave  the  instrument 
with  the  register,  and,  if  required,  at  the  time  to  pay  the 
register's  fees.  This  is  simple  and  easy  and  well  under- 
stood by  the  mass  of  people.  But,  under  the  system  pro- 
posed by  this  bill,  when  a  deed  is  drawn  and  duly  acknowl- 
edged, trouble  only  begins.  The  map  in  the  Register's 
Office  must  be  examined  with  the  utmost  care  down  to 
the  latest  practicable  moment  before  the  deed  is  left  for 
record,  so  that  the  secondary  instrument  shall  designate 
the  lot  embraced  within  the  deed  with  certainty,  or  other- 
wise there  will  be  a  failure  of  notice  of  the  record  of  the 
chief  instrument.  It  will  not  answer  to  send  to  a  Regis- 
ter's Office  any  one  but  a  careful  and  intelligent  person 
to  examine  the  maps  in  that  office  to  see  that  the  lots  in- 
dicated shall  embrace  the  entire  area  in  the  deed.  Here 
is  a  new  and  important  service  to  be  performed  out  of 


LAND  TRANSFER  REFORM  115 

the  office.  The  whole  validity  of  the  notice  depends  upon 
the  care  and  accuracy  witL  which  this  service  is  done, 
for  the  record  of  the  deed  goes  for  nothing  unless  this 
supplementary  designation  be  perfect.  So  important  did 
the  framers  of  this  bill  deem  this  duty,  that  in  section  6 
they  provide  that  this  designation  shall  be  in  writing,  sub- 
scribed by  one  or  more  of  the  parties  to  said  instrument, 
or  his  or  their  agent  or  attorney,  duly  acknowledged  or 
proved.  So  that,  after  the  execution  of  the  deed,  or  simul- 
taneously therewith,  this  other  instrument  must  be  pre- 
pared and  signed  by  the  party,  or  his  agent  or  attorney. 
Every  land  transfer  is  thus  burdened,  in  addition  to  the 
service  usually  heretofore  imposed  upon  it,  with  this  new, 
delicate,  and  important  service.  It  will  be  a  long  time 
before  the  public  throughout  this  vast  city  will  learn  to 
know  and  appreciate  the  importance  of  this  new  method 
of  securing  the  record  title  to  their  real  estate.  It  leaves 
open  innumerable  chances  for  frauds  and  mistakes.  Dis- 
honest persons  can  prevent  the  full  benefit  of  the  Registry 
Act  by  inducing  or  conniving  at  imperfect  designations. 
Careless  persons  will  impair  the  efficiency  of  the  record- 
ing act  by  careless  and  improper  designation.  It  is  no 
mean  undertaking  to  educate  a  whole  people  up  to  a  new 
and  intricate  system  of  transferring  real  estate,  and  it  will 
be  a  long  time  before  knowledge  of  this  system  can  be 
disseminated  to  all  the  persons  who,  from  time  to  time, 
prepare  good  and  valid  deeds  for  the  transfer  of  property. 
Unquestionably  many  deeds  will  be  left  for  record  with- 
out proper  designation  of  the  property  to  be  affected.  The 
bill  as  proposed  provides  no  remedy  for  this.  The  Com- 
mittee of  Seven  are  so  impressed  with  the  inconvenience 
and  trouble  that  might  grow  out  of  this  defect  in  the  bill 
that  they  propose  an  amendment  which  would  authorize 


116  LAND  TRANSFER  REFORM 

the  register  to  make  a  designation  in  such  case  of  neglect, 
but  requires  him  to  give  notice  by  mail  to  the  grantee,  or 
his  attorney  or  agent,  of  his  action  in  the  premises,  and 
provides  that,  after  giving  such  mail  notice,  the  index  of 
such  instrument  shall  be  deemed  to  have  been  made  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  provisions  of  this  act.  In  such  case, 
however,  the  register  is  authorized  to  charge  an  extra  fee. 

In  its  practical  working  there  is  no  doubt  that  maps 
would  be  freely  issued,  showing  the  block  numbers  cover- 
ing the  entire  city,  and  would  be  accessible  to  most  con- 
veyancers. This  would  answer  the  purpose  for  the  prepa- 
ration of  the  deeds,  but  for  the  purpose  of  drawing  the 
secondary  instrument  and  designating  the  land  on  the 
maps  in  the  Registry  Office,  every  one  would  constantly  be 
compelled  to  consult  the  maps  in  the  Register's  Office 
before  the  designation  could  be  made  out  so  as  to  complete 
a  transfer  of  real  estate. 

So  complicated  is  this  system  that  the  bill  provides  for 
the  creation  of  two  new  officers,  one  designated  superin- 
tendent of  the  Land  Register  of  the  city  of  New  York, 
who  shall  be  appointed  for  a  term  of  five  years,  and  shall 
be  paid  a  salary  of  not  less  than  $7,000  nor  more  than 
$10,000  per  year.  This  superintendent  may  appoint  a 
deputy,  who  shall  be  one  of  the  city  surveyors,  at  a  salary 
of  not  less  than  $5,000  and  not  more  than  $7,000  a  year. 
Thus  it  appears  that  the  system  is  so  complicated  and  diffi- 
cult to  administer  that  it  requires  at  least  two  expensive 
officials  to  administer  the  same.  Experience  alone  can 
tell  whether  they  will  not  require  many  additional  assist- 
ants to  perform  their  arduous  duties.  The  mayor  of  this 
city  addressed  a  communication  to  this  committee  asking 
it  to  inquire  as  to  the  probable  cost  of  inaugurating  this 
novel  system.  The  committee  agreed  that  it  had  not  suffi- 


LAND  TRANSFER  REFORM  117 

cient  time  to  investigate  this  subject,  and  could  not,  there- 
fore, report  upon  it,  but  all  agreed  that  the  expense  would 
be  necessarily  very  large. 

No  better  illustration  of  the  novelties  and  complica- 
tions found  in  this  bill  could  be  given  than  the  fact  that 
your  committee  have  had  five  sessions,  many  of  them  last- 
ing until  near  midnight,  all  the  members  trying  to  under- 
stand the  scope  and  meaning  of  the  proposed  bill.  The 
bill  requires,  in  the  opinion  of  your  committee,  something 
like  fifteen  amendments  before  it  should  go  into  effect. 
The  present  bill  has  about  fifteen  amendments  in  it,  chang- 
ing it  from  the  form  in  which  it  was  introduced  into  the 
legislature  in  1886.  Six  members  of  this  committee,  after 
five  meetings,  voted  that  the  bill  in  its  present  form  ought 
not  to  pass.  At  the  time  the  vote  was  taken  the  seventh 
member  was  not  present,  and  we  do  not  know  how  he  would 
have  voted  on  this  question.  We  can  safely  say  that  this 
committee  endeavored,  in  a  conscientious  and  careful  way, 
to  the  best  of  their  ability,  to  see  if  they  could  perfect  the 
bill  so  that,  in  their  judgment,  it  would  be  safe  to  let  it  go 
upon  the  statute  books.  The  undersigned  believe  that  if 
the  bill,  with  all  amendments,  were  placed  in  the  hands 
of  another  committee  of  seven  lawyers  of  good  ability, 
they,  on  examination,  would  find  as  many  more  places 
where  this  novel  system,  in  their  judgment,  would  need  to 
be  amended  before  it  could  be  put  in  operation.  What  a 
commentary  this  is  upon  a  bill  which  is  proposed  to  be 
enacted  to  apply  to  the  transactions  in  the  real  estate  of 
this  vast  city,  and  whose  provisions  must  be  understood 
and  acted  upon  promptly  and  correctly  by  everybody  who 
takes  part  in  the  transfer  of  real  estate !  If  there  shall 
be  in  the  working  under  the  bill  the  diversity  of  opinion 
that  prevails  in  the  minds  of  everybody  who  undertakes 


118  LAND  TRANSFER  REFORM 

to  study  the  bill,  what  can  be  said  of  the  confusion  and 
disappointments  and  litigations  that  will  inevitably  flow 
out  of  the  attempt  to  inaugurate  this  system? 

Turning  now  to  the  system  known  as  the  block  system, 
it  may  be  remarked  that  both  systems  provide  for  the  legal 
designation  of  the  blocks  by  consecutive  numbers  from 
the  Battery  northward  to  the  Harlem  River,  and  as  far 
beyond  as  is  practicable. 

Both  systems  provide  for  indexing  under  a  general  index 
certain  conveyances  of  plots  of  land  not  embraced  within 
the  blocks,  chiefly  lands  along  the  bulkheads,  with  all 
rights  pertaining  thereto;  also  for  indexing  in  the  same 
registry  insolvent  assignments,  exemplified  copies  of  wills 
and  many  other  instruments  of  a  kindred  nature;  so  that, 
for  the  purpose  of  dealing  with  those  questions,  it  is 
enough  to  say  that  both  plans  are  substantially  alike.  As 
the  great  body  of  the  property  is  in  clearly  defined  blocks, 
and  the  chief  difficulty  at  present  existing  is  as  to  titles 
within  such  blocks,  we  propose  to  discuss  here  only  that 
part  of  the  block  system  of  transfer  which  relates  to 
property  in  blocks  legally  designated  as  provided  in  both 
systems.  The  question  arises  why  is  it  that  the  present 
system  has  failed?  It  has  been  in  vogue  for  a  hundred 
years,  is  still  the  system  throughout  this  State,  and  is 
substantially  the  system  adopted  throughout  the  United 
States;  and  yet,  in  its  operations  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
it  has  become  cumbersome  and  impracticable.  The  an- 
swer is  easy.  It  is  because  the  area  of  search  and  the 
commingling  of  the  records  of  property  by  reason  of  the 
rast  extent  of  the  city  render  it  difficult  and  laborious  to 
find  the  record  of  any  one  particular  lot.  The  theory  of 
the  block  system  is  to  narrow  the  area  of  search.  In  the 
oity  of  New  York,  and  in  many  other  cities  of  the  State, 


LAND  TRANSFER  REFORM  119 

it  is  believed  that  the  block  is  the  smallest  practicable 
parcel  within  which  to  confine  such  area,  as  it  is  in  fact 
the  smallest  plot  with  legally  defined  boundaries ;  and,  in 
our  judgment,  is  quite  small  enough.  The  block  limits 
are  established  and  fixed  by  law,  and  their  exterior  lines 
are  established  by  monuments  shown  by  the  corners  and 
lines  of  streets.  There  is,  therefore,  no  uncertainty  as  to 
the  greatest  exterior  limit  possible  to  prevail  in  the  shape 
or  form  of  a  plot  conveyed  within  the  limit  of  a  block. 
The  block  system  contemplates  that  one  single  change 
shall  be  made  in  the  deed,  and  that  is  that  the  block  num- 
ber shall  be  inserted  in  the  body  of  the  deed  in  the  same 
manner  that  a  town  or  county  is  now  inserted  in  an  ordi- 
nary conveyance.  ~No  other  change  in  the  form  of  the 
deed  and  no  other  instrument  is  required  to  inaugurate 
this  system.  A  simple  law  should  then  be  framed  and 
passed  requiring  the  register  to  assign  to  each  block  a 
volume,  the  volumes  to  be  numbered  consecutively  from 
one  upward,  corresponding  with  the  blocks  designated  in 
the  same  way  upon  the  map.  The  register  would  then 
receive  all  deeds  and  mortgages  the  same  as  he  does  now, 
but,  instead  of  mingling  deeds  from  all  parts  of  the  city 
into  one  volume,  he  must  confine  the  record  of  each  deed 
to  the  book  in  which  records  of  the  block  referred  to 
in  the  deed  are  to  be  made.  If  by  chance  a  single  deed 
should  cover  a  description  of  land  in  two  blocks,  the  deed 
would  require  to  be  recorded  in  the  book  assigned  to  each 
block,  the  same  as  now  if  a  deed  described  land  in  two 
counties  it  must  be  recorded  in  the  record  book  in  each 
county.  The  practice  would  undoubtedly  soon  grow  up  of 
making  separate  deeds  for  lands  in  separate  blocks,  al- 
though it  is  not  often  that  lots  in  separate  blocks  are  put 
in  the  same  deed  in  this  city.  There  should  accompany 


120  LAND  TRANSFER  REFORM 

each  book  of  records  for  each  block  a  nominal  index,  sub- 
stantially as  it  is  now  kept,  for  that  block.  So  that,  when 
the  system  is  once  inaugurated,  it  will  never  be  necessary 
to  examine  an  index  of  the  whole  city,  but  only  an  index 
of  that  block.  This  system  is  capable  of  expansion  to  meet 
the  exigencies  of  any  city  or  any  county  in  the  State,  for 
it  is  based  upon  the  simple  and  unchangeable  principle 
that  the  area  of  search  may  be  limited  to  any  legally  de- 
fined boundaries.  In  a  rural  county,  under  this  system, 
the  deeds  of  every  town  may  be  separated  from  the 
deeds  of  all  other  towns,  or  the  deeds  in  a  village  may 
be  separated  from  all  other  deeds  in  the  county,  or  the 
deeds  in  a  ward  may  be  separated  from  all  other  deeds  in 
a  city,  or  the  deeds  in  other  cities,  if  they  shall  so  elect, 
may  be  classified  together  in  blocks,  but  the  law  and  the 
practice  remain  unchanged  and  uniform  throughout  the 
State,  the  principle  underlying  the  registry  being  simply 
that  of  limiting  the  area  so  that  the  volume  of  records  and 
of  indexes  shall  not  be  unmanageable.  This  system  re- 
quires no  expensive  superintendent  of  the  Land  Register 
or  a  deputy.  It  makes  no  violent  change  in  the  habits  of 
the  people  touching  land  transfer.  There  is  but  one  fact 
they  have  to  learn  so  far  as  making  their  transfers  are  con- 
cerned, and  that  is  that  they  must  put  into  their  deeds  and 
mortgages  the  block  number  in  which  their  land  is  situ- 
ated. It  works  no  revolution  in  the  law  as  to  the  legal 
effect  of  recording  for  the  purpose  of  real  estate  transfers, 
but  leaves  them  as  they  are  to-day.  The  proposed  lot 
system  does  work  a  radical  change  in  the  present  law 
defining  the  effect  of  recording  an  instrument.  The  block 
system  does  no  more  than  has  often  been  done  in  the 
history  of  this  State.  When  new  counties  have  been  cre- 
ated out  of  old  counties,  and  new  and  narrower  areas  of 


LAND  TRANSFER  REFORM  121 

search  have  been  created  by  the  constitution  of  the  new 
county,  the  change  has  produced  no  friction  and  no  dis- 
turbance of  the  methods  and  habits  of  the  people  in  trans- 
acting their  business.  It  may  be  objected  to  this  system 
that  when  land  is  transferred  it  leaves  the  duty  upon  the 
purchaser  to  examine  the  title;  but  this  is  not  an  onerous 
duty  under  this  system,  as  he  has  but  a  single  block  to 
examine,  much  more  easily  examined  than  the  title  in 
a  rural  hamlet.  Everybody  is  familiar  with  the  methods 
and  the  law  affecting  this  duty,  and  business  would  go  on 
without  disturbance  and  without  violent  shock.  No  one  for 
a  moment  believes  that,  if  such  a  system  had  prevailed  for 
the  last  fifty  years  in  this  city,  the  present  confusion  and 
unsatisfactory  state  of  things  would  prevail  in  the  Registry 
Office.  It  is  a  system  of  infinite  expansion ;  it  may  go  on 
as  long  as  blocks  are  laid  out.  The  size  of  the  city,  to 
whatever  extent  it  may  grow,  will  never  embarrass  it.  All 
the  safeguards  which  have  been  so  carefully  built  up 
around  conveyancing  will  remain  applicable  to  the  narrow 
area  of  a  block  the  same  as  they  now  exist.  Conveyancing 
will  be  more  cheaply,  rapidly,  and  accurately  done  for 
many  years  under  this  system  than  it  can  possibly  be  done 
under  the  complicated  system  pointed  out  in  the  lot  plan. 
In  what  we  have  said  we  do  not  wish  to  be  understood 
as  defending,  or  being  called  upon  to  defend,  all  the  pro- 
visions of  what  is  known  as  the  Olmsted  Bill.  While 
that  bill  contains  what  we  deem  to  be  the  invaluable  fea- 
ture of  a  block  system  of  indexing,  we  do  not  agree  in  the 
wisdom  of  many  of  its  details.  Careful  reflection  and 
study  have  brought  us  to  the  conclusion  that  the  whole 
subject  of  improvement  in  the  methods  of  land  and 
transfer  in  this  city  turns  upon  an  improved  method  of 
applying  the  long-established  principles  that  have  pre- 


182  LAND  TRANSFER  REFORM 

vailed  throughout  the  State.  It  is  a  simple  question  of 
narrowing  the  area  of  search  and  keeping  the  records  of 
each  new  area  by  themselves. 

The  essential  vice  of  the  proposed  lot  system  is  that  it 
is  an  attempt  to  build  that  which  should  be  stable  upon  a 
foundation  that  is  unstable.  The  principle  underlying 
it  is  wrong,  and  no  amount  of  ingenuity  in  plans  can  make 
it  practicable  or  safe  to  adopt.  In  our  judgment  it  can 
never  succeed.  We  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  block 
system,  which,  by  the  confession  of  the  friends  of  the 
lot  plan,  would  remove  substantially  all  the  evils  of  our 
present  methods,  and  not  incur  the  risk  of  inaugurating 
a  new  and  special  system  of  real  estate  for  the  city  of 
New  York  not  applicable  to  the  State  at  lar^e. 

New  York,  February  18,  1887. 


PROTECTIVE  TARIFF 

EEPOBT  ADOPTED  BY  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB 

Three  questions  of  paramount  importance  are  now  agi- 
tating the  public  mind,  and  require  careful  and  wise  legis- 
lation. One  is  the  surplus  money  accumulating  in  the 
United  States  Treasury;  another,  the  question  of  protec- 
tion to  American  industry ;  and,  third,  the  treatment  of  the 
manufacture  and  sale  of  spirituous  liquors.  At  first  sight 
these  three  questions  do  not  appear  to  be  germane  one  to 
the  other,  and  under  ordinary  circumstances  they  would 
not,  and  perhaps  could  not,  be  treated  together;  but  the 
situation  is  such  that  an  intelligent  treatment  of  either 
affects  each  of  the  others,  and  so  the  consideration  of  all 
becomes  important  and  material.  We  assume,  without 
debate,  that  the  great  principle  of  protection  to  American 
industry  is  a  cardinal  and  fundamental  principle  in  the 
creed  of  the  Republican  party,  and  that,  in  the  views  of 
that  party,  all  legislation  should  be  based  upon  the  pres- 
ervation of  that  doctrine  upon  which  the  great  prosperity 
of  this  country  has  been  built.  It  is  equally  true  that  the 
accumulation  of  the  large  surplus  in  the  Treasury  of  the 
United  States  is  an  evil  that  demands  prompt  and  speedy 
treatment.  The  treatment  must  be  effective  and  certain 
to  arrest  the  present  flow  of  money  into  the  Treasury, 
which  threatens  to  disturb  all  of  the  business  interests  of 
the  country.  It  is  also  true  that  the  pretensions  and  claims 
of  the  dealers  in  spirituous  liquors  are  menacing  the  moral 


124  PROTECTIVE  TARIFF 

and  material  interests  of  the  country  to  such  an  extent 
as  to  arouse  the  fears  of  all  right-thinking  citizens.  The 
accumulation  of  surplus  in  the  Treasury  is  the  excess  over 
necessary  expenses  that  reaches  that  department  through 
the  imposts  on  imported  goods  and  through  the  collec- 
tions of  the  Internal  Revenue  Bureau.  That  surplus  is 
made,  by  the  message  of  the  President  and  by  the  posi- 
tion of  the  Democratic  party,  the  lever  to  overthrow  the 
principle  of  protection  to  American  industry.  Confess- 
edly, revenue  derived  from  one  source  or  the  other  must 
be  arrested.  It  makes  no  difference,  as  to  the  effect  of  an 
accumulation  of  surplus  upon  the  financial  interests  of  the 
country,  from  what  source  that  surplus  is  derived.  Money 
derived  from  the  tax  upon  spirituous  liquors,  when  in  the 
Treasury,  is  withdrawn  from  circulation,  and  affects  mate- 
rial interests  precisely  the  same  as  any  other  money.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  is  not  the  policy  of  the  Republican 
party,  nor  is  it  wise  statesmanship  or  good  morals,  to  do 
anything  which  shall  relieve  the  liquor  interest  from  any 
burden  which  it  now  carries.  On  the  contrary,  the  Repub- 
lican party  should  set  its  face  firmly  and  resolutely  to  so 
treat  that  interest  that  it  shall  be  curtailed  and  restricted 
in  its  well-known  baleful  influence.  It  would  be  unwise 
and  suicidal  to  say  or  do  anything  which,  in  its  operation 
or  effect,  could  encourage  that  interest.  We  do  not  pro- 
pose to  discuss  at  length  or  enlarge  upon  the  enormity  of 
the  evils  growing  out  of  the  liquor  traffic.  We  abate  not 
one  jot  nor  tittle  from  anything  that  the  most  advanced 
thinkers  have  said  against  the  traffic  in  spirituous  liquors. 
Nevertheless,  if  the  revenues  derived  from  that  interest 
have  become  a  menace  to  the  prosperity  of  the  country, 
a  question  is  raised  whether  the  continued  collection  of 
those  revenues  by  the  United  States  Government,  which 


PROTECTIVE  TARIFF  125 

was  wise  in  the  past,  is  necessarily  wise  for  the  present 
and  the  future.  It  would  be  only  one  more  crime  to 
charge  up  against  that  traffic  if  it  should  be  the  force 
used  to  break  down  the  productive  industries  of  the 
country. 

It  appears  by  the  last  report  of  the  commissioner  of 
internal  revenue  that  during  the  last  fiscal  year  the  gov- 
ernment received  from  spirits  and  fermented  liquors 
$87,751,508.49;  from  tobacco  it  received  about  $30,000,- 
000;  from  other  sources  a  small  amount  was  received, 
making  a  total  of  $118,837,301.06.  It  thus  appears  that 
the  internal  revenue  derived  from  spirits  and  fermented 
liquors  is  the  principal  source  from  which  moneys  are  de- 
rived in  that  department  of  the  government. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  reports  that  the  present 
actual  net  surplus  on  December  1st  was  $55,258,701, 
after  all  obligations  were  provided  for.  He  estimates  that 
this  surplus  will  be  increased  for  the  next  fiscal  year;  so 
that,  under  the  operation  of  present  laws,  at  the  end  of 
the  year  the  surplus  will  amount  to  $140,000,000.  It  is 
plain,  therefore,  that  the  estimated  increase  of  the  sur- 
plus will  be  substantially  equivalent  to  the  collections  by 
the  Internal  Revenue  Bureau  from  spirituous  liquors.  If 
the  Internal  Revenue  Department  should  be  abolished,  it 
would  at  once  and  immediately  put  an  end  to  all  question 
of  surplus  in  the  Treasury.  The  government  would  then 
start  with  its  present  accumulation,  which  would  be  gradu- 
ally reduced  by  reason  of  the  imposts  on  imported  articles 
not  being  sufficient  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  government 
for  the  next  one  or  two  fiscal  years.  If  it  be  objected  that 
in  the  future  the  resources  of  the  government  would  not  be 
sufficient  to  meet  its  liabilities,  it  is  not  only  reasonable, 
but  highly  probable,  that  the  impost  duties  would  increase 


126  PROTECTIVE  TARIFF 

from  year  to  year,  so  that  by  the  time  this  present  surplus 
is  expended,  the  revenues  from  impost  duties  would  meet 
all  the  requirements  of  the  government. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  reports  a  net  increase 
of  $34,963,550.60  for  the  last  fiscal  year,  but  of  this  net 
increase  only  $2,017,454.74:  was  derived  from  internal 
revenue,  which  leaves  the  increase  derivable  from  other 
sources  than  internal  revenue  to  be  $32,946,095.86.  It 
is  not  improbable  that  this  rate  of  increase,  or  something 
approximate  to  it,  would  go  on  from  year  to  year,  so  that 
the  government  would  find  itself  with  ample  funds  for  its 
needs. 

Going  back,  now,  to  the  question  of  the  internal  revenue 
derived  from  spirits,  excluding  fermented  liquors,  we 
find  the  amount  derived  last  year  from  that  source  was 
$65,829,321.71.  Of  this  amount  of  spirits  distilled  a 
considerable  portion  enters  into  manufacturing  industries. 
There  are  no  reliable  statistics  as  to  what  per  cent,  of 
the  spirits  manufactured  is  used  for  such  purposes.  Con- 
siderable testimony  was  taken  on  this  question  before  the 
Tariff  Commission  appointed  by  Congress  a  few  years 
since,  and  many  intelligent  men  have  given  their  esti- 
mates upon  it.  The  lowest  proportion  that  has  been 
named  is  5  per  cent.,  the  highest  proportion  50  per 
cent.  It  is  the  opinion  of  those  conversant  with  the  sub- 
ject that  the  lowest  is  much  too  low  and  the  highest  too 
high.  It  is  probable  that  the  amount  is  about  40  per 
cent.  Assuming  that  as  a  basis,  we  have  the  revenues 
derived  from  spirits,  40  per  cent,  thereof,  or  $26,331,728, 
which  is  levied  as  a  direct  tax  upon  home  industries. 

Much  thought  and  attention  have  been  given  to  the 
subject  of  finding  some  method  by  which  spirits  used  in 
the  arts  and  manufactures  could  be  separated  from  the 


PROTECTIVE  TARIFF  127 

liquor  which  is  used  as  a  beverage,  so  that  the  domestic 
manufacturers  should  not  be  called  upon  to  contribute  to 
the  government  this  vast  sum  of  $26,331,728,  which  is,  in 
effect,  a  direct  tax,  and  operates  to  that  extent  against  the 
domestic  manufacture  of  such  articles  as  require  its  use. 
No  device  and  no  plan  has  yet  been  suggested  by  which 
that  result  can  be  reached  without  opening  a  wide  door 
to  frauds  upon  the  government.  If  the  Internal  Revenue 
Department  is  abolished,  large  and  material  interests  of 
the  country  would  be  relieved  from  this  unjust  and  un- 
necessary tax,  a  tax  which  discriminates  against  the  home 
production  of  a  large  class  of  articles  required  for  the 
ordinary  use  of  the  citizens. 

The  expenses  of  collecting  the  internal  revenue  are  re- 
ported at  $4,055,148.87.  An  army  of  4,000  office-holders 
is  maintained  with  this  money.  These  officials  are  un- 
necessary and  vexatious  spies  upon  the  business  of  the 
people.  To  relieve  these  men  from  their  official  duties 
and  restore  them  to  the  productive  industries  of  the 
country  would  be  a  great  gain  to  the  public  and  be 
entirely  in  harmony  with  the  reform  professions  of  this 
administration. 

Revenue  from  tobacco,  as  we  have  stated  above,  is  about 
$30,000,000.  If  it  be  said  that  this  is  a  tax  upon  a  luxury, 
it  is  also  a  tax  upon  a  large  productive  industry  of  this 
country,  and  is  chiefly  a  tax  upon  the  luxury  of  poor  men, 
as  they  are  the  principal  consumers  of  domestic  tobacco. 
So  long  as  imposts  are  continued  upon  imported  tobacco 
and  cigars,  the  revenue  from  that  source  will  be  derived 
chiefly  from  an  article  that  is  a  luxury  indulged  in  prin- 
cipally by  those  who  are  able  to  pay  it.  We  do  not  advo- 
cate the  reduction  of  the  tax  upon  tobacco  as  such,  but 
only  the  repeal  of  the  internal  taxes  which  are  derived 


128  PROTECTIVE  TARIFF 

mainly  from  domestic  production.  The  proposition  to 
repeal  the  tax  upon  spirits  will  at  first  strike  many  minds 
as  unwise,  and  as  relieving  a  traffic  which  ought  to  bear  a 
heavy  burden  from  its  proportion  of  the  cost  of  the  govern- 
ment. To  do  this  in  fact  would  be  unwise,  and  would 
shock  the  moral  sense  of  the  community.  We  would  not 
for  one  moment  advocate  anything  which  would  be  an 
encouragement  to  that  traffic,  or  that  would  relieve  it  from 
any  restraints  which  can  be  thrown  around  it.  Our  con- 
tention is  that  the  money  derived  from  it  is  unnecessary 
for  the  general  government;  and  that,  unless  it  is  at  once 
put  into  circulation,  it  operates  just  as  mischievously  as 
revenue  derived  from  any  other  source  when  it  reaches 
the  Treasury  vaults  in  Washington.  The  money  derived 
from  the  liquor  traffic  should  be  collected  by  States  and 
municipalities,  so  that  it  may  go  to  support  in  some  meas- 
ure the  pauperism  and  crime  which  it  produces.  It  may 
be  objected  that  when  the  general  government  ceases  to 
collect  revenue  from  that  interest,  the  States  and  munici- 
palities which  may  have  jurisdiction  over  the  liquor  traffic 
would  not  impose  taxes  to  an  equal  amount  upon  that 
traffic.  We  believe  this  objection  to  be  fallacious.  That 
the  temperance  sentiment  is  growing  with  rapid  strides 
throughout  the  country  is  evidenced  on  all  sides.  The 
West  and  South  are  already  leading  the  East  and  North 
on  that  question.  The  sentiment  is  a  healthy  and  whole- 
some one.  It  is  true  the  friends  of  temperance  are  not 
agreed  as  to  the  measures  that  are  practical  and  effective 
to  curtail  this  evil.  A  respectable  and  conscientious  body 
of  citizens  believe  that  there  is  no  remedy  save  prohibi- 
tion. A  much  larger  body  of  citizens,  members  of  both 
the  Republican  and  Democratic  parties,  believe  that  the 
time  is  not  yet  ripe  for  that  measure ;  while  many  believe 


PROTECTIVE  TARIFF  129 

that  it  never  will  come.  It  is  in  accord  with  the  experience 
of  this  country  that  no  policy  can  be  enforced  which  is  not 
sustained  by  public  sentiment.  That  public  sentiment  is 
not  yet  ripe  for  prohibition  must  be  conceded  by  every- 
body. As  a  limitation  upon  the  traffic,  heavy  local  taxa- 
tion, whether  in  the  form  of  high  license  or  any  other 
taxation  which  shall  be  constitutional  in  the  several  States, 
is  practical,  and  public  sentiment  is  fully  ripe  to  sustain 
it.  The  Republican  party  should  plant  itself  firmly  and 
decisively  upon  this  ground.  As  one  State  after  another, 
by  legislation,  shall  derive  large  revenues  from  this  traffic, 
the  example  will  be  contagious.  If  it  once  becomes  under- 
stood that  the  United  States  has  surrendered  its  claim  to 
tax  this  interest,  it  will  not  be  difficult  to  create  a  public 
sentiment  which  shall  demand  the  enactment  of  laws  to 
take  the  same  money  that  the  United  States  collected  for 
the  benefit  of  the  States  and  municipalities  who  have  to 
bear  the  burden  and  the  crime  produced  by  the  traffic. 
This  policy  is  entirely  in  accord  with  the  principle  of  abso- 
lute prohibition  in  such  States  and  localities  as  demand, 
and  are  able  to  enforce,  that  remedy.  It  is  consistent  with 
the  local  option  laws  in  any  State.  It  is  in  harmony  with 
those  who  contend  for  high  license  and  taxation.  Rightly 
considered,  it  is  in  conflict  with  no  phase  of  the  temperance 
question.  If  the  Republican  party  shall  wisely  take  high 
and  decided  ground  upon  this  subject  of  temperance,  it 
will  at  once  put  it  in  harmony  with  the  sentiments  of  the 
best  element  in  the  Southern  States.  The  Southern  tem- 
perance sentiment  will  not  be  slow  to  find  that  upon  this 
great  question  of  moral  reform  its  strongest  and  only  ally 
is  the  Republican  party.  The  two  sections  will  be  brought 
into  harmonious  action  upon  a  question  that  is  dear  to  the 
hearts  of  the  best  citizens  of  both  sections.  It  does  not 
9 


130  PROTECTIVE  TARIFF 

seem  to  be  wild  conjecture  that  when  that  state  of  things 
arises,  great  good  will  accrue  to  the  country  by  harmoni- 
ous action  upon  other  questions  in  which  the  true  interests 
of  the  South  are  in  harmony  with  the  sentiments  of  the 
Republican  party.  Our  party  must  be  prepared  to  enter 
upon  the  battle  with  the  liquor  traffic,  but  the  lines  of 
battle  should  be  so  set  that  the  conflict  shall  not  result  in 
injury  to  other  great  and  material  interests.  The  position 
of  the  two  parties  to-day  is  not  unlike  the  position  of  the 
Republican  party  in  the  great  contest  of  1860  on  the 
slavery  question.  There  was  then  a  small  but  respectable 
party  in  favor  of  the  abolition  of  slavery.  Abolition  was 
then  regarded  by  the  masses  of  the  people  as  imprac- 
ticable; but  to  limit  and  restrain  slavery  was  deemed  to 
be  practicable.  In  so  far  as  slavery  had  any  friends  in 
the  Northern  States,  they  were  found  in  the  Democratic 
party — the  same  party  that  is  now  supporting  the  saloon 
and  liquor  interest.  Then  the  Democratic  party  also  con- 
tained a  very  large  and  respectable  body  of  citizens  who 
sympathized  with  the  anti-slavery  sentiment  of  the  Re- 
publicans, but  did  not  and  could  not  sustain  the  ex- 
treme doctrine  of  the  Abolition  party.  We  believe  the 
state  of  things  is  substantially  the  same  to-day  on  the 
question  of  temperance,  that  the  Democratic  party  contains 
a  vast  number  of  men  who  would  sustain  a  vigorous  policy 
by  the  Republicans  in  restraint  of  the  liquor  traffic.  The 
attitude  of  the  Republican  party  in  the  past  has  been 
such  as  to  concentrate  with  great  vigor  the  saloon  interest 
in  the  Democratic  party.  Timid  party  men  have  nothing 
more  to  fear  from  the  opposition  of  the  liquor  interest. 
In  Pennsylvania  the  Republican  party  accepted  the  issue, 
planted  itself  firmly  on  the  ground  of  opposition  to  the 
saloon  interest,  and  carried  the  State  in  the  last  election 


PROTECTIVE  TARIFF  131 

triumphantly  after  a  close  and  severe  canvass.  To  take 
a  doubtful  position  on  this  issue  is  defeat.  To  go  forward, 
with  the  line  of  battle  properly  set,  means  certain  triumph. 
We  therefore  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following 
resolution : 

Resolved,  That  we  deem  it  wise  Republican  statesman- 
ship to  abolish  the  Internal  Revenue  Department  of 
the  United  States  as  the  safest  and  most  practicable 
way  of  reducing  the  surplus  of  the  Treasury  and  preserv- 
ing unimpaired  the  great  principle  of  protection  to  Ameri- 
can industry ;  and,  also,  to  advocate  and  enforce,  wherever 
the  power  exists,  rigorous  and  vigorous  legislation  in  the 
various  States  in  favor  of  taxation  of  the  liquor  traffic 
to  the  highest  degree  practicable,  to  the  end  that  the 
money  collected  from  that  source  may  be  applied  directly 
to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  pauperism  and  crime  that  it 
entails  upon  the  several  States. 

New  York,  April,  1888. 


THE  LIQUOK  TEAFFIC 

No  question  within  the  power  of  legislation  has  received 
so  much  attention  during  the  last  fifty  years  as  that  of  the 
use  of  spirituous  liquors  as  a  beverage,  if  we  except  the 
slavery  question.  Like  the  latter  question,  it  has  been 
considered  from  the  religious,  the  moral,  and  the  political 
standpoint.  At  first  it  was  treated  mainly  as  a  religious 
and  moral  question.  Of  late  the  political  aspect  of  the 
subject  has  received  a  wide  and  exhaustive  discussion. 

On  the  whole,  the  progress  of  the  reform  has  not  been 
satisfactory  to  its  friends.  The  weakness  of  human  nature 
in  its  appetite,  and  the  cupidity  of  men  in  their  desire  for 
money,  have  rooted  the  evil  in  the  body  politic  so  deeply 
as  to  cause  the  greatest  anxiety  in  the  minds  of  all  thought- 
ful persons.  That  moral  suasion  and  religious  considera- 
tions have  worked  mightily  upon  a  vast  body  of  citizens, 
and  have  saved  them  from  destruction,  must  be  conceded. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  number  of  persons  who  are  the 
thoughtless  or  helpless  victims  of  the  vice  of  drinking  is  so 
great  that  they  are  a  menace  to  the  good  of  society,  eating 
out  so  much  of  manhood  as  to  cripple  the  State,  and  cast- 
ing upon  the  sober  and  industrious  burdens  they  ought 
not  to  bear.  The  constantly  recurring  questions,  What 
can  be  done  ?  What  ought  to  be  done  ?  will  come  up  for 
answer.  In  replying  to  these  questions,  we  must  consider 
what  is  practicable  and  possible.  What  the  State  wants, 
what  society  wants,  is  relief  from  this  great  evil. 

No  relief  comes  from  attempting  the  impossible.     One 


THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC  133 

question  may  be  considered  settled  by  the  discussions  of 
the  last  fifty  years,  and  that  is,  that  as  a  question  of  power 
the  State  can  interfere  and  go  to  any  length  that  is  neces- 
sary to  root  out  this  evil.  The  friends  and  defenders  of 
the  liquor  traffic  undertake  to  defend  the  business  because 
it  is  a  business  in  which  large  investments  have  been  made, 
and  that  to  invade  or  curtail  this  traffic  would  be  to  abridge 
individual  rights  and  assail  the  safeguards  of  private  prop- 
erty. This  is  entirely  fallacious.  The  State  has  always 
exercised  control  over  individuals  and  property,  when  the 
highest  good  of  the  State  has  required  it.  It  has  pro- 
hibited gambling  and  passed  laws  for  the  seizure  of  the 
implements  of  gambling  and  the  punishment  of  those  en- 
gaged in  it.  Now,  it  may  be  plausibly  reasoned  that 
gambling  is  an  individual  matter;  that  a  person  who  has 
money  has  a  perfect  right  to  do  what  he  pleases  with  it, 
either  to  give  it  away  or  gamble  it  away  if  he  will. 

With  reference  to  lotteries,  there  is  a  constitutional  pro- 
hibition against  them;  and  yet  why  should  not  a  person 
spend  his  own  money,  that  he  has  earned,  in  a  lottery 
ticket,  if  he  desires  to  do  so  ?  Owners  of  agricultural  lands 
are  prohibited  by  the  constitution  from  leasing  the  same 
for  more  than  twelve  years.  ISTow,  why  should  not  an 
agricultural  landlord  and  tenant  be  at  liberty  to  make  any 
bargain  they  please  ?  The  answer  is  that,  if  left  to  them- 
selves, they  would,  by  long  leases,  be  likely  to  bring  about 
a  state  of  things  that  now  afflicts  Ireland.  Numerous 
other  illustrations  might  be  given  where  the  State  has 
interfered  with  personal  rights  and  property  for  the  gen- 
eral good.  The  policy  of  the  State  is  to  protect  itself  from 
anything  that  puts  in  jeopardy  the  general  good.  It  is  the 
conscience,  intelligence,  and  the  integrity  of  the  people 
that  chiefly  limits  this  control.  Until  our  scheme  of  self- 


134  THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC 

government  shall  prove  itself  a  failure,  no  damage  can 
result  from  the  exercise  of  this  power  of  protection  by 
the  State.  Those  engaged  in  the  liquor  traffic  concede 
the  propriety  of  State  control  of  their  traffic,  but  they 
clamor  for  what  they  call  just  and  equal  laws,  which  means 
laws  that  do  not  materially  affect  or  limit  their  business. 
This  is  precisely  what  the  good  of  the  State  does  not  re- 
quire. If  the  business  of  the  liquor  dealers  is  as  harmless 
as  selling  corn  or  potatoes,  then  there  is  no  occasion  for 
State  interference,  and  one  business  should  be  as  free  as 
the  other.  The  concession  by  the  liquor  dealers  that  the 
State  should  in  some  measure  limit  and  regulate  the  traffic 
is  a  concession  that  in  some  way  and  to  some  extent  the 
traffic  menaces  the  good  of  the  State.  That  brings  us  to 
the  questions,  How  serious  a  menace  is  the  traffic?  and 
Who  shall  determine  the  extent  of  the  State  control  that 
is  necessary  to  protect  the  State  ? 

The  measure  of  the  remedy  should  bear  some  propor- 
tion to  the  magnitude  of  the  evil.  If  the  evil  is  slight,  the 
remedy  should  be  moderate.  If  the  evil  is  great  and 
threatening,  the  remedy  should  be  the  more  radical.  To 
dwell  upon  the  evils  of  intemperance  is  to  dwell  upon  a 
hackneyed  subject ;  and  yet  a  few  suggestions  at  this  time 
will  give  point  to  the  argument  in  favor  of  strong  and  radi- 
cal measures  to  limit  and  cure  the  evil.  It  is  stated  upon 
good  authority  that  the  number  of  saloons  in  this  city  is 
about  7,500  and  in  Brooklyn  about  5,000,  or  a  total  of 
about  12,500  saloons  and  drinking  places.  It  is  estimated 
that  the  average  income  of  these  places  is  not  less  than 
$4,000  per  annum  each.  This  seems  a  reasonable  esti- 
mate, when  we  consider  that  rent,  attendance,  light,  fuel, 
liquors,  etc.,  have  to  be  paid  for  to  carry  on  the  business. 
At  this  estimated  rate  of  income,  there  is  taken  out  of 


THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC  135 

the  people  in  these  two  cities  for  this  traffic  the  sum  of 
$50,000,000  annually,  if  we  say  nothing  of  the  balance  of 
the  State.  If  such  a  sum  was  extorted  from  the  same 
class  of  people  by  a  tax,  it  would  produce  a  revolution  in 
our  government.  To  the  people  who  drink,  this  money  is 
wasted.  It  is  taken  from  families,  homes,  mothers,  and 
children.  What  $50,000,000  would  purchase  in  comforts, 
such  as  improved  homes,  clothing,  food,  education,  etc., 
is  mostly  lost  to  the  innocent  and  helpless.  Nor  is  this 
all.  It  destroys  the  ability  to  earn  money  in  untold 
thousands  of  its  victims;  it  promotes  crime  and  im- 
morality; it  baffles  the  teaching  of  those  seeking  the  reli- 
gious and  moral  elevation  of  the  human  family;  it  fills 
our  State  prisons,  jails,  and  all  charitable  institutions; 
it  increases  the  burdens  of  the  State  for  the  industrious 
and  sober,  so  that  every  one  who  pays  taxes  pays  a  very 
considerable  portion  of  them  to  support  saloons;  it  un- 
necessarily burdens  the  charitable,  for  all  who  have  had 
experience  know  that  a  large  per  cent,  of  the  demands 
for  charity  would  never  exist  except  for  this  traffic. 

In  these  two  cities  there  would  be  but  little  poverty 
and  want  if  this  $50,000,000  could  be  diverted  from  the 
saloons  and  turned  towards  families  and  homes.  Taxes 
would  be  reduced,  crime  would  be  diminished,  religion 
and  morality  would  be  promoted,  and  the  clamorous  de- 
mand of  charity  be  greatly  reduced. 

Surely  here  is  an  evil  of  sufficient  magnitude  for  the 
State  to  seek  a  remedy;  and  shall  this  remedy  be  only 
such  as  those  engaged  in  the  traffic  approve,  or  such  as 
the  good  of  the  State  demands  ?  The  failure  at  the  late 
election  to  carry  two-thirds  of  both  branches  of  the  legis- 
lature, so  that  an  expected  executive  veto  could  be  over- 
ridden, will  be  likely  to  produce  discouragement  in  the 


136  THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC 

minds  of  many  friends  of  high  license,  and  induce  them 
to  accept  half-way  measures  or  compromises  that  will  be 
acceptable  to  those  engaged  in  the  traffic.  This  we  deem 
will  be  an  abandonment  of  all  the  benefits  of  high  license. 
High  license  should  be  of  such  a  character  as  to  bring 
to  the  narrowest  practicable  volume  the  amount  of  the 
business,  and  compel  it  to  bear  as  much  as  possible  of  the 
burdens  that  that  traffic  now  casts  unjustly  upon  the  sober 
and  charitable  part  of  the  community. 

Recent  events  have  established  that,  for  the  present 
at  least,  prohibition  in  this  country  cannot  be  obtained. 
It  is  equally  well  established  that  high  license  laws  do 
restrain  and  limit  the  traffic.  In  war  it  is  deemed  the 
greatest  folly  to  risk  a  general  engagement  without  rea- 
sonable grounds  to  expect  a  victory,  and  to  risk  a  general 
engagement  with  a  certainty  of  defeat  is  madness.  In 
this  is  the  mistake  of  the  Prohibitionists.  Important  out- 
posts can  often  be  taken  when  the  citadel  cannot  be  cap- 
tured. The  Prohibitionists  are  chargeable  with  refusing 
to  secure  that  which  can  be  secured,  and  which,  experience 
has  shown,  tends  to  increase  temperance  and  morality, 
while  they  are  striving  after  the  impossible  at  this  time, 
and  thus  helping  along  with  all  their  power  the  swelling 
tide  of  intemperance,  crime,  and  poverty. 

We  therefore  recommend  the  adoption  by  this  club  of 
the  following : 

Resolved,  That  we  deem  it  unwise  and  dangerous  to 
the  cause  of  temperance  for  the  friends  of  high  license  to 
accept  any  measure  that  does  not  come  up  to  the  fair  in- 
tent of  that  policy.  That  it  is  better  to  let  the  Democratic 
party  and  the  Prohibitionists  divide  the  responsibility  for 
the  present  state  of  intemperance,  crime,  and  poverty, 


THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC  137 

until  such  time  as  a  practicable  remedy  can  be  secured. 
That  we  earnestly  recommend  to  the  Republican  mem- 
bers of  the  legislature,  at  the  ensuing  session,  to  stand  fast 
for  the  principle  of  high  license,  so  that  whenever  a  license 
law  shall  be  carried,  the  State  may  secure  substantial 
benefit  from  such  a  measure. 

New  York,  November  26,  1889. 


THE  McKIKLEY  TAKIFF,  1890 

The  primary  purpose  of  impost  duties  is  to  raise  the 
money  necessary  to  support  the  general  government.  The 
most  vital  function  of  a  government  is  the  power  to  raise 
money  for  its  support,  because  its  usefulness  in  all  direc- 
tions is  gone  without  this  power.  A  government  cannot 
exist  without  exercising  it.  Whatever  difference  of  opin- 
ion there  may  be  as  to  forms  of  government,  all  have  this 
corner-stone  in  common.  Political  economists  may  differ 
as  to  the  method  of  raising  the  money,  but  all  agree  as 
to  the  basis  on  which  the  political  structure  we  call  a  civil 
government  must  stand.  There  are  but  three  sources, 
with  trifling  exceptions,  known  to  civilized  countries  from 
which  to  derive  support,  and  those  are  either  impost  duties 
(commonly  called  tariff  duties),  export  duties,  and  internal 
taxation  in  some  form.  Export  duties  form  no  part  of 
the  fiscal  policy  of  this  country,  and  need  not  be  referred 
to  again.  Statesmanship  in  financial  matters  has  to  deal 
with  the  method  of  raising  the  necessary  money  to  carry 
on  the  government.  It  is  the  statesman's  duty  to  point 
out  the  place  or  places  from  which,  and  provide  the  means 
by  which,  the  collection  of  the  money  can  be  enforced. 

The  political  economist  may  very  properly  point  out 
the  best  method  of  raising  the  money  so  that  the  burden 
may  fall  as  lightly  upon,  and  be  distributed  as  justly 
among,  the  people  as  possible;  and,  therefore,  the  states- 
man should  also  be  a  political  economist.  The  amount 


THE  McKINLEY  TARIFF,  1890  139 

of  money  necessary  to  be  raised  at  this  time  to  support 
the  general  government  is  about  $400,000,000. 

That  an  annual  levy  of  $400,000,000  should  be  a  burden 
upon  the  people  of  the  United  States  which  they  would 
like  to  be  rid  of  is  not  surprising.  The  question  is,  upon 
which  shoulder  shall  they  carry  the  burden?  It  proves 
nothing  against  the  tariff  bill  to  point  out  that  some  par- 
ticular interest  or  interests  would  be  better  off  without  an 
impost  duty.  The  friends  of  the  tariff  may  safely  con- 
cede that,  and  yet  justify  the  tariff  duty  as  necessary  and 
best,  on  the  whole,  for  the  government  support.  Free- 
traders but  half  argue  the  question  when  they  point  out 
that  the  tariff  tax  burdens  somebody.  All  exactions  from 
the  people  to  support  civil  government  are  distasteful. 
A  desire  to  escape  the  assessor  and  the  tax  collector  is  not 
an  unusual  thing,  at  least  in  this  country.  There  is  no 
particular  wisdom  in  calling  a  "  tariff  a  tax,"  unless  it  be 
wisdom  to  characterize  with  an  opprobrious  term  the  suc- 
cessful financial  policy  of  all  the  fathers  of  the  republic. 

If  the  free-traders  would  develop  their  ideas  as  to  how 
they  would  raise  the  $400,000,000,  and  tell  the  people 
what  their  scheme  of  taxation  is,  it  would  add  life  and 
interest  to  the  dreary  discussion  they  have  been  carrying 
on.  How  much  of  this  money  do  they  expect  to  take 
directly  from  the  farmers,  and  what  is  their  method  of 
doing  it?  What  proportion  of  the  fixed  incomes  of  the 
people  are  to  be  taken  to  make  up  this  vast  sum?  What 
proportion  of  the  incomes  from  the  professions,  what 
stamp  duties,  and,  in  general,  where  is  this  money  to 
come  from?  As  political  economists,  while  examining 
with  philosophical  nicety  the  bearings  and  effect  upon 
business  of  a  tariff  upon  imported  goods,  it  is  not  to  be 
presumed  that  they  have  overlooked  the  prime  factor  that, 


140  THE  McKINLEY  TARIFF,  1890 

when  they  have  educated  the  people  to  be  free-traders, 
they  must  be  prepared  to  substitute  some  revenue  scheme 
to  take  the  place  of  a  tariff.  The  more  details  they  will 
give  of  the  new  scheme  the  more  interesting  it  will  be 
to  the  public,  because  the  people  will  be  better  able  to 
compare  the  two  plans  and  judge  which  they  like  best. 
Philosophers  sometimes  dislike  practical  questions,  because 
they  interfere  with  their  theories.  This  is  a  practical 
question.  The  British  free-traders  have  met  it  manfully. 
They  simply  tax  everything  a  British  subject  has  or  uses, 
from  a  cradle  to  a  tombstone,  inclusive. 

While  the  British  free-traders  have  urged  upon  us  the 
beauties  of  free  trade,  it  is  not  recalled  that,  in  any  of 
their  dissertations  prepared  for  this  country,  they  have 
dwelt  at  length  upon  the  beauties  and  delights  of  their 
scheme  of  internal  taxation. 

What  the  people  want  at  this  time  is  more  light  on  this 
subject.  They  are  pretty  well  informed  as  to  the  free- 
traders' objections  to  the  tariff.  They  have  learned  all 
about  its  iniquity,  inequality,  and  immorality.  What  is 
now  wanted  is  the  free-traders'  scheme  for  raising 
$400,000,000  that  shall  be  free  from  the  objections  they 
find  in  a  tariff,  and  the  burden  of  which  shall  rest  upon 
the  people  as  gently  as  a  benediction. 

The  friends  of  a  tariff  are  not  ready  yet  to  abandon 
that  method  of  raising  money  to  support  the  government, 
because  a  better  method  has  not  yet  been  pointed  out. 
The  field  of  internal  taxation  is  pretty  well  worked  at  this 
time  to  support  our  State  and  municipal  governments,  and 
the  people  are  not  anxious  to  see  the  tax  gatherer  for  the 
general  government  asking  for  a  further  sum  for  its  sup- 
port. It  is  not  .yet  made  clear  to  them  that  it  is  desirable 
to  change  the  traditional  policy  of  this  government. 


THE  McKINLEY  TARIFF,  1890  141 

Since  its  formation  this  policy  has  been  to  seek  support 
from  impost  duties  whenever  a  sufficient  sum  could  be 
realized  from  that  source.  The  first  revenue  bill  signed 
by  Washington  was  a  tariff  bill,  which  declared  in  its  pre- 
amble that  its  purpose  was  to  raise  money  and  protect 
American  industries.  That  was  soon  followed  by  an  inter- 
nal revenue  bill.  It  was  not  until  after  the  War  of  1812, 
and  about  the  year  1818,  that  the  internal  revenue  system 
was  terminated,  and  from  that  time  until  the  War  of  the 
Rebellion,  in  1862,  the  United  States  was  never  driven 
to  resort  to  internal  taxation  for  its  support. 

During  the  Rebellion,  and  for  some  years  thereafter, 
both  systems — the  impost  duties  and  internal  taxation — 
were  strained  to  the  highest  practicable  point,  so  as  to 
raise  the  greatest  amount  of  revenue  possible.  Since  the 
war  closed,  most  of  the  internal  taxes  have  been  repealed, 
and  the  laws  imposing  impost  duties  have  been  from  time 
to  time  modified,  so  as  to  reduce  the  revenue  from  that 
source,  chiefly  by  placing  upon  the  free  list  articles  not 
the  product  of  American  industries.  For  over  forty  years 
before  the  war,  all  parties  agreed  that  the  general  govern- 
ment should  be  supported  by  impost  duties,  but  they  dif- 
fered as  to  what  kind  of  tariff  should  be  levied.  The 
Whigs  contended  for  a  "  protective  tariff,"  while  the 
Democrats  contended  for  what  they  called  a  "  revenue 
tariff."  This  description  of  a  Democratic  tariff  was  glori- 
ously uncertain,  and  the  phrase  could  be  made  to  do  duty 
for  any  kind  of  a  tariff,  according  to  locality.  It  was  a  very 
much  overworked  description  in  those  days,  like  the  words 
"  reform  "  and  "  revenue  reform  "  at  the  present  time. 
Both  Whigs  and  Democrats  sought  to  raise  the  same 
amount  of  money.  The  difference  was  in  the  method  of 
levying  imposts.  The  protective  tariff  system  contem- 


142  THE  McKINLEY  TARIFF,  1890 

plated  that  the  impost  duties  should  be  so  laid  as  to  pro- 
mote American  industries.  A  revenue  tariff  was  generally 
described  to  be  a  tariff  so  levied  as  to  produce  the  neces- 
sary support  of  the  government,  regardless  of  its  effects 
upon  home  industries. 

Free  trade,  as  understood  in  English  financial  policy, 
has  never  had  a  practical  foothold  in  this  country.  The 
doctrine  is  revolutionary,  and,  if  practically  applied,  in- 
volves an  entire  reversal  of  the  financial  policy  which  we 
have  followed  from  the  foundation  of  our  government. 
It  is  not  believed  that  the  people,  when  they  fully  under- 
stand the  question,  will  ever  consent  to  be  taxed  by  the 
general  government  for  its  support,  and  open  the  ports 
to  free  trade.  There  is  no  escape  from  the  proposition 
that  it  must  be  supported  by  tariff  duties  or  by  internal 
taxation  in  some  form.  There  'is  no  consistency  in  de- 
nouncing all  tariff  duties  as  wrong,  unjust,  and  immoral, 
without  at  the  same  time  advocating  internal  taxation 
as  a  substitute. 

If  the  people  adhere  to  the  policy  that  the  general  gov- 
ernment shall  find  its  chief  support  in  impost  duties,  the 
only  remaining  question  of  broad  policy  is,  shall  those 
duties  be  adjusted  so  as  to  raise  the  necessary  revenue, 
regardless  of  its  effect  on  our  industries,  or  shall  they  be 
so  adjusted  as  to  foster  and  promote  those  industries  ?  In 
other  words,  shall  it  be  a  revenue  tariff  or  a  protective 
tariff?  Republicans — and  a  not  inconsiderable  portion  of 
the  Democratic  party,  especially  in  the  South,  as  ex- 
pressed in  many  of  the  leading  Democratic  papers — be- 
lieve that  in  raising  this  vast  sum  for  the  general  govern- 
ment, it  can  be  so  levied  as  to  promote  our  own  industries. 
The  money  is  not  raised  to  aid  manufacturing  inter- 
ests or  any  other  home  industries.  It  is  raised  because 


THE  McKINLEY  TARIFF,  1890  143 

it  must  be  levied  somewhere.  Free-traders  have  indus- 
triously tried  to  make  people  believe  that  the  protective 
tariff  is  a  system  of  taxation  for  the  benefit  of  certain 
manufacturers,  and  that  the  people  are  taxed  to  make  the 
manufacturers  rich.  Nothing  can  be  more  false  in  fact 
or  in  logic  than  this  statement  of  the  case. 

Not  a  dollar  is  raised  for  the  benefit  of  the  manufac- 
turers. The  purpose  of  a  protective  tariff  is  to  raise  just 
the  amount  required  for  the  support  of  the  government. 
As  this  sum  must  be  raised  by  internal  taxation  unless 
raised  by  impost  duties,  the  protective  policy  is  to  so  raise 
it  by  impost  duties  as  to  promote  our  own  industries. 
These  are  promoted  by  letting  in  free  such  things  as  we 
do  not  or  cannot  produce,  and  by  placing  this  tax  to  sup- 
port the  government  upon  such  foreign  articles  as  we  do 
or  can  produce. 

The  free-trade  and  revenue  reformers  have  of  late  been 
claiming  great  credit  to  themselves  for  their  advocacy  of 
free  raw  material.  They  seem  to  boast  as  if  they  were 
championing  a  new  doctrine.  They  have,  intentionally  or 
ignorantly,  overlooked  the  fact  that  this  is,  and  always 
has  been,  one  of  the  axioms  of  protective  policy,  and  one 
that  has  always  been  maintained  by  those  who  understood 
the  true  doctrine  of  protection.  This  advocacy  of  free 
raw  material  by  the  free-traders  is  a  concession  on  their 
part  that  when  impost  duties  are  levied  there  should  be 
discrimination  in  favor  of  American  industries,  and  to 
that  extent  admits  the  case  of  the  protectionist.  Raw 
material,  which  it  is  desirable  to  import  free,  includes 
such  products  of  industry  as  we  do  not  and  cannot  pro- 
duce reasonably  cheap  in  this  country,  taking  into  ac- 
count our  natural  resources  and  their  capability  of  devel- 
opment. The  term  "  free  raw  material "  is  liable  to  be 


144  THE  McKINLEY  TARIFF,  1890 

misleading,  because  that  which  is  the  finished  article  of 
one  industry  may  be  only  the  raw  material  of  another 
and  higher  grade  of  industry  or  manufactures.  A  just 
application  of  the  doctrine  of  protection  is  to  so  adjust 
the  levy  of  the  necessary  money  as  to  equitably  protect 
all  industries  of  the  country.  The  bearings  of  the  impost 
upon  the  industries  of  the  manufacturer,  the  farmer,  the 
miner,  or  any  other  industry,  should  be  carefully  studied 
so  as  to  aid,  rather  than  retard,  the  same. 

It  is  no  answer  to  the  propriety  of  a  particular  impost 
duty  upon  an  industry  that  such  industry  would  be  better 
off  without  the  impost  and  with  free  trade. 

The  real  question  is,  Is  the  impost  unequal  as  com- 
pared with  other  industries?  The  burden  of  supporting 
the  government  must  be  borne  by  somebody,  in  some  form. 

In  framing  any  tariff  or  tax  bill  there  is  great  practical 
difficulty.  There  are  liable  to  be  private  and  conflicting 
interests  difficult  to  satisfy.  Some  persons  will  take  only 
a  narrow  and  personal  view  of  a  particular  impost  or  levy. 
All  cannot  escape  the  burdens  of  supporting  the  govern- 
ment. If  an  attempt  were  made  to  frame  a  purely  revenue 
tariff,  or  a  bill  to  raise  this  large  amount  of  money  by 
internal  taxation,  the  same  difficulties  would  arise  as  to 
conflicting  interests.  Some  would  think  they  had  not  been 
fairly  treated.  In  fact,  pure  abstract  justice  cannot  be 
attained,  no  matter  on  what  lines  any  revenue  bill  may 
be  framed.  It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  committee  to 
express  an  opinion  on  the  wisdom  of  any  particular  im- 
post proposed  in  the  McKinley  Bill  in  its  bearing  upon 
certain  industries.  Among  those  who  adhere  to  the  doc- 
trine of  a  protective  tariff,  in  particular  cases,  there  are 
wide  and  honest  differences  of  opinion.  The  bill  seems  to 
be  an  honest,  painstaking,  and  able  effort  to  prepare  a 


THE  McKINLEY  TARIFF,  1890  145 

revenue  measure  to  support  the  government,  based  on 
the  established  principles  of  protective  policy  which  were 
adopted  by  the  Republican  party  at  the  last  National  Con- 
vention, and  fully  discussed  in  the  last  canvass  and  ap- 
proved by  the  people.  We,  therefore,  recommend  the 
adoption  of  the  following  resolution : 

Resolved,  That  the  Union  League  Club  approves  the 
general  scope  and  principles  of  the  McKinley  Tariff  Bill 
as  calculated  to  produce  only  the  money  necessary  to  sup- 
port the  government,  and  as  embodying  the  sound  doc- 
trines of  a  protective  tariff  adopted  in  the  National  Repub- 
lican Platform,  and  recommends  that  Congress  pass  the 
same,  with  such  amendments,  if  any,  as  may  be  necessary 
to  perfect  it,  to  the  end  that  it  may  speedily  become  a  law 
of  the  land,  and  thus  put  at  rest  the  questions  affecting 
the  vast  interests  of  the  country,  now  disturbed  by  sus- 
pense and  uncertainty  as  to  the  final  action  of  the  govern- 
ment in  this  important  matter. 

New  York,  April  29,  1890. 
10 


NEW  ORLEANS  RIOTS  (FIRST  REPORT) 

On  the  10th  day  of  this  month  the  civilized  world  was 
shocked  and  startled  by  an  event  at  New  Orleans  unparal- 
leled in  the  history  of  modern  Anglo-Saxon  civilization. 

No  event  has  occurred  in  the  history  of  this  country,  in 
a  time  of  peace,  so  fraught  with  peril  to  our  institutions 
as  this.  Whatever  the  wrong  may  be  that  was  committed 
against  the  victims,  the  greatest  wrong  was  to  the  country 
and  to. our  boasted  system  of  self-government.  It  may 
be  conceded  that  it  is  highly  probable  there  was  a  kind 
of  rude  justice  meted  out  to  the  victims  of  the  massacre; 
and,  in  so  far  as  that  result  was  reached,  it  may  be  received 
in  explanation  of  the  motives  of  those  engaged  in  it,  and 
relieve  them  from  the  charge  of  brutal,  wanton  murder, 
committed  to  gratify  wicked  and  ferocious  natures.  Under 
a  government  of  law  and  order  the  act  committed  was 
murder,  and  nothing  but  murder;  and,  in  a  community 
alive  and  sensitive  to  the  duty  of  maintaining  law  and 
order,  the  perpetrators  would  be  sought  out  and  punished, 
not  as  they  meted  out  punishment,  but  in  due  course 
of  law. 

It  does  not  seem  probable  that  any  such  course  will  be 
pursued,  for  the  reason  that,  so  far  as  can  now  be  gathered, 
almost  the  entire  sentiment  of  the  city,  official  and  un- 
official, either  wholly  approves  of  the  act  or  is  ready  to  ex- 
cuse and  defend  it. 

The  citizens  of  this  State,  and  of  all  the  other  States, 
having  a  common  interest  in  law  and  order  for  the  good  of 


NEW  ORLEANS  RIOTS  (FIRST  REPORT)  147 

all,  are  brought  to  the  startling  spectacle  of  the  chief  city  of 
one  of  the  States  being  either  unable  or  unwilling  to  rise 
up  and  demand  that  majesty  of  the  law  shall  be  main- 
tained. This  case  is  peculiar,  and  deserves  the  study  and 
thoughtful  consideration  of  every  lover  of  his  country. 
Outbreaks  of  violence  and  murder  are  not  unusual.  Mob 
violence  is  sometimes  formidable  and  threatening. 

Heretofore  it  has  usually  broken  out  in  resistance  to  law, 
or  to  forestall  legal  proceedings  and  inflict  a  more  speedy 
and  summary  punishment.  The  New  Orleans  case  has  this 
important  and  new  feature,  that  no  force  was  exercised 
until  the  law  had  taken  its  full  course,  and  had,  as  alleged, 
failed  to  punish  dangerous  characters.  The  conditions  are 
just  those  of  a  government  of  anarchy.  If  the  law's  fail- 
ure in  this  case  to  do  justice  can  justify  mob  violence,  it 
can  do  it  again  and  again.  This  is  the  first  great  step  in 
our  history  taken  by  the  alleged  best  citizens  to  teach  and 
illustrate  the  doctrine  of  the  mob  violence  in  place  of  law. 
The  strength  of  the  law  is  the  people's  respect  for  it.  The 
law  of  the  country  has  no  actual  force  behind  it  able  to  en- 
force its  decrees  except  the  respect  and  willing  obedience 
of  the  citizens.  The  events  in  New  Orleans  and  the  ten- 
dency of  them  cannot  be  viewed  by  any  good  citizen  with- 
out the  gravest  apprehension.  Such  examples  are  con- 
tagious. No  one  can  tell  where  the  next  mob  will  under- 
take to  correct  the  failures  that  are  supposed  to  occur  in 
the  administration  of  the  law,  nor  how  many  such  assaults 
our  system  of  government  will  endure.  We  all  know, 
that  the  decline  and  fall  of  nations  are  gradual.  Failure 
never  occurs  all  at  once.  The  first  false  steps  are  the  ones 
that  finally  lead  to  ruin.  It  is  the  interest  of  every  citizen 
of  this  broad  land  to  resist  in  all  proper  ways  the  tendency 
of  this  New  Orleans  outbreak,  and  do  what  he  can  to 


148  NEW  ORLEANS  RIOTS  (FIRST  REPORT) 

create  such  a  public  sentiment  that  no  second  attempt  of  a 
like  nature  shall  be  made.  While  condemning  without 
qualification  the  course  pursued  in  New  Orleans,  it  is  not 
believed  that  the  majority  of  those  engaged  in  the  illegal 
proceedings  were  in  any  sense  enemies  of  our  country,  or 
intended  to  make  a  dangerous  assault  upon  our  free  in- 
stitutions. They  are  not  anarchists  nor  revolutionists,  but 
are  undoubtedly  lovers  of  their  country.  They  were  mis- 
taken in  the  remedy  they  adopted  for  a  real  evil  they  were 
suffering  under.  The  charge  is  made  that  an  organization 
of  foreign  criminals,  bound  together  by  solemn  oaths,  had 
in  cold  blood  murdered  the  chief  of  police  of  that  city; 
that  they  had  committed  many  other  criminal  acts,  and 
had  threatened  many  citizens  with  summary  death;  and 
that,  finally,  when  brought  to  trial,  they  were  able  to 
intimidate  or  corrupt  the  jury  and  cause  a  miscarriage  of 
justice  of  such  a  glaring  nature  as  to  excite  the  just  indig- 
nation of  good  citizens  and  justify  them  in  their  summary 
punishment  of  the  criminals. 

Without  admitting  for  one  moment  that  the  facts  justify 
the  outbreak,  they  show  a  condition  of  things  that  de- 
mands thoughtful  consideration  by  every  American  citi- 
zen. While  the  outbreak  has  turned  attention  at  this  time 
to  New  Orleans,  the  common  judgment  of  all  intelligent 
and  patriotic  men  is  that,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  every 
large  city  in  this  land  has  a  condition  of  things  somewhat 
similar  in  kind  to  that  reported  to  exist  in  New  Orleans. 
The  recent  anarchist  troubles  in  Chicago,  the  events  in 
Cincinnati,  and  our  own  July  riots  in  1863,  with  numerous 
lesser  incidents,  may  be  cited  as  proof  that  such  is  the 
fact. 

We  are  thus  brought  face  to  face  with  a  condition  of 
things  that  ought  not  to  exist,  and  a  natural  inquiry  arises, 


NEW  ORLEANS  RIOTS  (FIRST  REPORT)  149 

Why  does  it  exist?  Our  government  is  a  government 
of  law  and  order.  It  is  founded  upon  that  rock,  and  its 
right  to  exist  and  command  the  respect  of  mankind  de- 
pends upon  its  ability  to  maintain  and  preserve  unim- 
paired that  principle.  It  is  also  a  government  of  equal 
rights,  where  the  people  elect  their  own  rulers.  To  main- 
tain such  a  government  presupposes  intelligence  on  the 
part  of  the  citizens  and  devotion  to  its  principles.  We 
have  also  boasted  that  this  land  is  the  asylum  for  the  op- 
pressed of  all  nations.  No  one  desires  to  abandon  any  of 
these  proud  positions,  and  yet  it  may  be  fairly  questioned 
whether  we  have  been  discreet  in  the  administration  of 
them.  It  is  known  of  all  men  that  for  many  years  we 
have  been  the  asylum  of  the  criminals  and  paupers  of  all 
nations.  While  we  have  taken  into  the  body  politic  a  vast 
body  of  honest  and  intelligent  foreigners,  who  have  ac- 
cepted American  citizenship  in  good  faith,  and  who  have 
contributed  their  full  share  to  the  prosperity  and  glory 
of  our  country,  we  have  also  taken  in  such  a  flood  of  igno- 
rance, pauperism,  and  crime,  and  clothed  it  with  the  full 
panoply  of  citizenship,  that  Americanism  is  being  diluted 
and  assailed  in  ways  that  are  truly  alarming.  We  are 
unable  to  assimilate  so  much  ignorance,  pauperism,  and 
crime  without  great  danger  to  the  body  politic.  The  illus- 
trations of  this  danger  are  innumerable  all  around  us.  All 
the  better  elements  of  this  country  are  overtaxed  in  deal- 
ing with  this  flood.  Our  religious,  benevolent,  and  educa- 
tional institutions  are  appalled  in  the  presence  of  the  de- 
mands upon  them. 

The  time  is  propitious  to  agitate  these  questions  before 
it  is  too  late,  and  see  if  something  cannot  de  done  to 
save  our  country  and  our  institutions  from  the  peril  that 
menaces  them.  The  courts  should  be  rigid  and  conscien- 


150  NEW  ORLEANS  RIOTS  (FIRST  REPORT) 

tious  in  enforcing  all  the  safeguards  of  the  law  against 
suffrage  unworthily  bestowed.  The  general  government 
and  the  several  States  should  exercise  all  the  power  they 
possess  to  keep  out  of  the  country  crime  and  pauperism. 
If  the  present  laws  are  not  sufficient,  others  should  be 
framed  that  will  be  sufficient,  even  if  it  becomes  neces- 
sary to  provide  that  every  emigrant  must  produce  a  con- 
sular certificate  of  good  character  at  home  before  he  shall 
be  permitted  to  become  one  of  the  family  of  the  United 
States. 

It  can  be  conclusively  demonstrated  that  it  is  possible 
and  easy  to  ascertain  the  previous  character  of  any 
proposed  emigrant.  The  means  to  procure  this  informa- 
tion can  and  should  be  provided  by  the  government. 
Neither  the  cost  nor  the  difficulty  of  doing  it  bears  any  pro- 
portion to  the  importance  and  necessity  of  it  for  the  good 
of  our  country.  To  postpone  or  flinch  from  meeting  this 
issue  is  perilous  and  cowardly  to  a  degree  indefensible 
for  this  great  people.  The  doctrine  contended  for  is  not 
applicable  to  any  one  nationality,  but  to  all  nationalities. 
It  is  the  criminal  classes  and  paupers  of  the  world  that  we 
should  defend  ourselves  from. 

The  press  and  the  public  should  take  up  and  discuss  this 
subject  until  a  remedy  shall  be  found  that  will  rid  us  of 
foreign  bandits,  anarchists,  criminals,  and  the  pauper 
class  that  are  such  a  menace  to  our  country. 

We  therefore  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following 
resolutions : 

Resolved,  That  we  call  upon  the  general  government 
and  the  several  States  to  use  all  lawful  means  that  they  pos- 
sess to  prevent  the  importation  of  criminals  and  paupers ; 
that  we  call  upon  the  courts  to  be  rigid  in  administering 


NEW  ORLEANS  RIOTS  (FIRST  REPORT)  151 

the  laws  as  to  naturalization,  and  in  resisting  the  impor- 
tunities of  political  parties  to  clothe  improper  persons  with 
the  rights  of  citizenship. 

Resolved,  That  we  call  upon  the  press  and  the  public  to 
agitate  and  discuss  the  subject  of  the  importation  of  crimi- 
nals and  paupers,  to  the  end  that  if  present  laws  are  not 
sufficient  to  save  our  country  from  this  great  peril,  others 
may  be  enacted  that  shall  be  effectual  to  that  end. 

New  York,  March  30,  1891. 


NEW  ORLEANS  RIOTS  (SECOND  REPORT) 

At  the  April  meeting  of  this  club  this  committee  sub- 
mitted a  report  touching  upon  the  evils  of  undesirable 
immigration.  It  was  tentative,  and  intended  to  call  atten- 
tion to  the  evil  rather  than  to  discuss  the  remedy. 

It  is  unsatisfactory  to  merely  point  out  an  evil  without 
pressing  the  inquiry  further  and  treating  of  a  remedy. 
The  presentation  of  the  existence  of  the  evil  has  received 
the  most  earnest  and  favorable  attention  of  the  public  and 
the  press,  and  we  deem  it  within  the  spirit  of  the  resolu- 
tions of  the  club  to  push  the  inquiry  further  to  the  question 
how  the  evil  can  be  abated  or  limited.  The  very  presence 
of  undesirable  immigrants  in  our  country  is  a  menace  and 
a  burden,  but  this  evil  is  greatly  aggravated  when  these 
undesirable  immigrants  are  clothed  with  citizenship. 

The  treatment  of  the  whole  subject  seems  naturally  to 
arrange  itself  into  two  prominent  divisions.  The  first  one 
would  relate  to  such  laws  and  such  policy  on  the  part  of 
the  government  as  would  prevent  such  a  class  coming  into 
the  country.  Congress  has  entered  upon  this  field,  and  has 
passed  some  laws  tending  in  that  direction,  although,  in  our 
judgment,  they  are  entirely  inadequate  to  meet  the  exi- 
gencies of  the  case. 

The  second  remedy  would  pertain  to  the  enactment  of 
laws,  or  the  enforcement  of  the  present  laws,  so  as  to  pre- 
vent these  undesirable  immigrants  from  becoming  citi- 
zens, enjoying  all  the  benefits  which  that  word  implies. 


NEW  ORLEANS  RIOTS  (SECOND  REPORT)  153 

Here  further  legislation  is  needed  before  full  and  ade- 
quate protection  from  this  evil  can  be  secured. 

We  have  had  for  a  long  period  of  time  upon  the  statute 
books  laws  that,  if  properly  administered,  would  have 
saved  us  in  the  past  from  a  most  reckless  and  dangerous 
assault  upon  our  institutions,  and  which  should  be  here- 
after enforced  in  the  spirit  and  intent  of  their  enactment. 

A  hasty  review  of  the  present  law  will  aid  in  the  dis- 
cussion of  this  question. 

The  powers  of  Congress  are  stated  in  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  in  a  few  words.  They  are  simply 
that  "  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  establish  an  uni- 
form rule  of  naturalization."  This  is  a  broad,  sweeping, 
and  absolute  power  lodged  there,  and  not  vested  in  any 
State  or  in  any  other  authority. 

The  first  law  touching  naturalization  was  passed  in 
January,  1795.  In  April,  1802,  the  naturalization  laws 
were  revised,  after  an  elaborate  and  exhaustive  debate; 
and  the  third  section  of  the  act  then  passed  is  as  follows : 

"  Third.  It  shall  be  made  to  appear  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  court  admitting  such  alien  that  he  has  resided  in  the 
United  States  five  years  at  least,  and  within  the  State  or 
Territory  where  such  court  is  at  the  time  held  one  year  at 
least ;  and  that  during  that  time  he  has  behaved  as  a  man 
of  good  moral  character,  attached  to  the  principles  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  well  disposed  to  the 
good  order  and  happiness  of  the  same;  but  the  oath  of 
the  applicant  shall  in  no  case  be  allowed  to  prove  his 
residence." 

There  are  other  provisions  in  this  law,  and  also  some 
subsequent  amendments,  not  material  to  be  considered  in 
this  paper. 


154  NEW  ORLEANS  RIOTS  (SECOND  REPORT) 

In  the  discussion  of  the  naturalization  laws,  the  fathers 
of  the  republic  had  a  high  appreciation  of  the  value  of 
American  citizenship,  and  of  the  necessity  of  preserving  it 
from  being  enjoyed  by  unworthy  immigrants,  although 
they  were  anxious  to  encourage  immigration,  and  were 
willing  to  divide  with  proper  immigrants  the  rights  and 
privileges  enjoyed  by  themselves.  In  discussing  the  ques- 
tion of  time  before  full  citizenship  should  be  permitted, 
Mr.  Smith,  of  South  Carolina,  urging  a  longer  term  of 
probation,  asked :  "  What  could  he  (the  immigrant)  know 
of  the  government  the  moment  he  landed  ?  Little  or  noth- 
ing. How,  then,  could  he  ascertain  who  was  the  proper 
person  to  legislate  or  judge  of  the  laws  ?  Certainly,  gentle- 
men would  not  pretend  to  bestow  a  privilege  upon  a  man 
which  he  is  incapable  of  using." 

Mr.  Jackson,  of  Georgia,  said  that  he  conceived  the 
present  subject  to  be  of  high  importance  to  the  respecta- 
bility and  character  of  the  American  name.  The  venera- 
tion he  had  for,  and  the  attachment  he  had  to,  this  country 
made  him  extremely  anxious  to  preserve  its  good  fame  from 
injury.  "  I  am  clearly  of  the  opinion  that,  rather  than  have 
the  common  class  of  vagrants,  paupers,  and  other  outcasts 
of  Europe,  we  had  better  be  as  we  are,  and  trust  to  the 
natural  increase  of  our  population  for  inhabitants." 

Mr.  Sedgwick,  of  Massachusetts,  was  against  "  the  indis- 
criminate admission  of  foreigners  to  the  highest  rights  of 
human  nature  on  terms  so  incompetent  to  secure  society 
from  being  overthrown  by  the  outcasts  of  Europe.  Be- 
sides, the  policy  of  settling  the  vacant  territory  by  immi- 
gration is  of  doubtful  nature." 

Mr.  Sylvester,  of  New  York,  said :  "  It  is  neither  for  the 
honor  nor  interest  of  the  United  States  to  admit  aliens  to 
the  right  of  citizenship  indiscriminately." 


NEW  ORLEANS  RIOTS  (SECOND  REPORT)  155 

These  extracts  sufficiently  show  the  trend  of  the 
thoughts  of  the  fathers  of  the  republic  when  they  enacted 
the  law  quoted  above.  It  was  clearly  their  intent  that 
an  immigrant  admitted  to  the  high  estate  of  American 
citizenship  should  be  a  person  of  character,  of  intelligence 
and  honor,  who  so  far  appreciated  the  principles  of  our 
government  as  to  have  become  attached  to  the  same  and 
well  disposed  to  its  good  order  and  happiness. 

A  difficulty  was  encountered  in  determining  upon  whom 
should  devolve  the  inquiry  as  to  fitness  for  citizenship. 
The  federal  judges  were  few,  and  the  places  for  holding 
the  courts  widely  separated.  It  was  finally  determined  to 
lodge  this  trust  in  the  hands  of  the  courts  established  by 
the  various  States  and  Territories,  in  the  belief  that  only 
honorable  men  would  hold  such  positions,  that  they  would 
be  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution, 
that  they  would  guard  well  the  sacred  trust  imposed  in 
them,  and  that  they  would  admit  none  to  citizenship  ex- 
cept those  who  were  qualified  as  prescribed  in  the  act  con- 
ferring the  power  upon  the  local  courts.  When  these 
early  legislators  prescribed  that  "  it  shall  be  made  to  ap- 
pear, to  the  satisfaction  of  the  court,  that  the  applicant  is 
qualified,"  they  had  in  mind  that  each  case  should  be  in- 
quired into  and  established  by  competent  proof  in  the 
same  manner  that  any  other  fact  is  proven  and  established 
in  a  court;  that  the  applicant  should  appear  ready  at  every 
point,  by  satisfactory  proof,  to  sustain  every  proposition  as 
to  his  qualifications.  They  passed  over  from  the  federal 
courts  to  the  State  courts  a  trust  that  the  judges  should, 
as  an  act  of  judicial  inquiry,  ascertain  that  every  person 
admitted  to  the  rights  implied  in  citizenship  of  the  United 
States  came  up  to  the  full  standard. 

The  act  of  admitting  to  citizenship  in  one  State  is  an 


156  NEW  ORLEANS  RIOTS  (SECOND  REPORT) 

act  admitting  a  person  to  citizenship  in  all  the  States.  In 
fact,  the  act  makes  the  applicant  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States.  A  wrong  done  in  the  administration  of  this  law 
in  one  place  is  a  wrong  done  to  the  whole  body  of  the  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States.  The  law  as  passed  in  1802 
was  defective  in  not  providing  that  the  rights  of  the  United 
States  should  be  represented  and  guarded.  While  the 
framers  of  this  law  clearly  foresaw  the  evils  of  naturaliz- 
ing improper  persons,  they  little  dreamed  that  this  trust, 
confided  to  the  judiciary  of  the  States  and  Territories, 
would  be  betrayed  and  disregarded  by  the  men  who  would 
occupy  these  honorable  positions.  They  presumed  that 
the  judges  conducting  such  proceedings  would  be  imbued 
with  the  spirit  of  Americanism,  that  they  would  guard 
jealously  and  without  fear  or  favor  the  rights  of  the  whole 
United  States.  Had  they  foreseen  the  shameless,  reckless, 
and  criminal  disregard  of  this  duty  that  has  prevailed  in 
this  country  in  many  courts  in  recent  years,  no  such  power 
would  have  been  lodged  with  the  judiciary  of  the  States 
and  Territories.  While  there  have  been  numerous  judges 
who  have  conscientiously  and  faithfully  executed  this 
trust,  the  great  part  of  naturalization  has  taken  place  be- 
fore judges  who  have  recklessly  disregarded  the  faith  that 
was  placed  in  them,  and  who  have  done  more  than  any 
other  body  of  citizens  to  degrade  and  bring  into  contempt 
that  which  should  have  been  sacred  in  their  eyes.  They 
have  brought  the  country  to  a  peril  that  is  menacing  its 
peace  and  prosperity,  and  causing  more  just  alarm  and 
anxiety  for  the  permanence  of  good  government  than  any 
other  class  of  men. 

No  words  of  denunciation  are  strong  enough  to  char- 
acterize this  shameful  breach  of  trust.  No  indignation  is 
too  deep  to  be  entertained  against  those  who  have  per- 


NEW  ORLEANS  RIOTS  (SECOND  REPORT)  157 

petrated  this  great  wrong.  ~No  language  can  describe  in 
all  its  enormities  the  methods  that  have  been  pursued  to 
reach  this  result.  Time  and  the  limits  of  this  paper  forbid 
giving  a  detailed  account  of  the  methods  by  which  this 
crime  against  the  American  people  has  been  perpetrated. 
A  few  well-known  facts  give  point  and  support  to  the 
statement  we  have  just  made.  In  one  year,  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  there  were  naturalized  over  68,000  people, 
nearly  the  whole  of  this  naturalization  having  taken  place 
within  the  months  of  October  and  November.  Witnesses 
and  applicants  were  brought  up  and  sworn  in  groups,  and 
the  judge,  without  the  slightest  knowledge  as  to  the  char- 
acter and  fitness  of  the  person  who  was  being  admitted, 
signed  the  papers,  and  the  same  were  sealed  by  the  clerk 
with  all  the  rapidity  that  they  could  possibly  command. 
Professional  witnesses  would  swear  to  the  character  and 
length  of  residence  of  applicants,  without  the  slightest  re- 
gard to  who  they  were  or  from  whence  they  came.  Courts 
have  been  held  open  from  early  in  the  morning  until  well 
towards  midnight  to  carry  out  this  great  conspiracy  and 
crime  against  the  American  people.  Thousands  of  citi- 
zens have  been  made  almost  immediately  after  they  had 
landed  in  our  port,  who  were  unable  to  speak  or  write  the 
English  language,  whose  fitness  had  been,  in  a  pro  forma 
manner,  sworn  to  by  professional  witnesses;  and  yet 
judges,  under  the  seal  of  the  court,  have  certified  that  it 
appeared  to  their  satisfaction  that  they  were  persons  of 
good  moral  character,  attached  to  the  principles  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  well  disposed  to  the 
good  order  and  happiness  of  the  same. 

The  whole  proceeding  has  been  a  rank  offence  against 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  in  which  the  chief  offender 
has  been  the  judge  before  whom  the  proceedings  have 


I'-  NEW  ORLBANS  RIOTS  (SECOND  REPORT) 

been  conducted.  The  mmm  judges  would  spend  hours  in 
settling  a  controversy  of  bat  trifling  importance  between 
too  citizens,  insisting  upon  the  mart  exact  legal  proofs  as 
to  every  material  fact  ;  and  vet,  when  it  came  to  the  dis- 
charge of  this  higher  and  greater  duty,  which  affects  every 
ilifcililiiil  of  this  country,  they  have  been  either  utterly 
oUmooB  to  their  duty  or  criminally  reckless  in  the  dis- 
charge of  h.  In  determining  a  fact  in  a  civil  action,  had 
they  pursued  the  same  course  that  they  did  in  determining 
Ike  facts  as  to  citizenship,  every  one  of  them  would  have 
been  impeached  and  driven  from  the  bench.  It  is  to  be 
noted,  to  the  everlasting  credit  of  Louisiana,  that  as  early 
as  1£44  h  caused  the  impeachment  of  Judge  Eliott  for 
ffppA*  committed  by  him  between  1841  and  1344  in  the 
administration  of  the  laws 


The  time  has  come  to  call  a  hah.  If  in  the  future 
judges  shall  observe  their  duty  and  administer  this  im- 
portant law  with  the  rectitude  and  judgment  which  per- 
tain to  the  discharge  of  their  other  judicial  functions,  it 
wiD.  do  something  towards  arresting  the  evil  that  now 
menaces  us  fiuui  improper  immigration.  We  do  not  un- 
dertake to  apportion  between  the  political  parties  their 
respective  shares  in  this  wrong.  It  is  not  a  party  question. 
It  i§  a  question  of  our  country  and  its  institutions. 

It  is  important  to-day  to  appeal  to  the  judges  to  consider 
wefl  the  oaths  they  have  taken  and  to  examine  the  law 
that  they  are  to  •^•"••frfi",  so  that  every  certificate  they 
wmr  may  be  proof  that  they  have,  with  an  upright  pur- 
pose and  with  a  clear  conscience,  been  judicially  satisfied 
by  nanprteiit  proof  that  every  alien  they  naturalize  has 
the  leqaiaile  good  moral  character,  and  is  attached  to  the 
principles  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and 
wefl  dnyoMid  to  the  good  order  and  happiness  of  the  same. 


NEW  ORLEANS  RIOTS  (SECOND  REPORT) 

Any  failure  to  come  up  to  this  high  standard  is  a 
to  do  a  duty  imposed  upon  them,  and  one  that  the  people 
have  a  right  to  demand  they  shall  not  shirk  or  evade. 
If  it  shall  be  urged  that  this  imposes  upon  them  an  amount 
of  work  that  they  are  unable  to  dispose  of  with  their  other 
duties,  it  is  no  answer  to  the  demand  we  make  upon  them. 
If  applicants  come  in  such  numbers  and  at  such  times 
that  each  case  cannot  be  carefully  and  conscientiously  in- 
vestigated, it  is  not  the  fault  of  the  judges.  It  is  high 
time  that  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  hare  the  benefit 
of  the  doubt,  where  there  is  doubt  as  to  the  fitness  of  a 
citizen,  and  that  he  be  rejected  until  there  are  time  and 
opportunity  for  the  proper  judicial  investigation  of  his 
claim.  It  is  not  a  matter  of  right  that  an  alien  be  natural- 
ized, but  it  is  a  favor  conferred  upon  him  when  he  is  fully 
qualified  and  is  able  to  prove  it  in  court  by  competent 
legal  proofs.  Nothing  is  asked  of  the  judges  that  it  is 
impossible  for  them  to  do.  It  is  possible  for  them  to  refuse 
to  act  until  they  are  judicially  and  legally  satisfied  in  each 
case  as  to  the  fitness  of  the  applicant.  This  the  American 
people  now  require  of  them. 

The  loss  of  some  votes  that  might  with  propriety  be 
secured  to  aliens  bears  no  proportion  to  the  injury  to  the 
country  of  admitting  a  mass  of  voters  who  are  not  entitled 
to  this  high  privilege.  The  patriotism,  the  conscience,  and 
the  character  of  the  judges  should  be  above  the  pressure 
of  political  parties  and  political  bosses.  Anything  less 
than  that  is  a  departure  from  the  manhood  and  integrity 
that  ought  to  pertain  to  their  high  office.  The  responsi- 
bility for  this  criminal  negligence  cannot  justly  be  shifted 
to  the  shoulders  of  applicants  for  citizenship,  nor  is  it 
manly  or  just  to  place  it  upon  those  of  the  political  heeler 
or  manager  who  is  zealous  for  the  success  of  his  party 


160  NEW  ORLEANS  RIOTS  (SECOND  REPORT) 

or  candidate.  To  the  immigrant,  if  he  can  secure  citizen- 
ship, it  is  an  advantage,  for  it  confers  upon  him  certain 
rights  and  dignities  that  are  desirable  for  him  to  possess ; 
but  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  it  is  of  the  highest 
importance  that  an  unworthy  person,  who,  by  character 
and  education,  is  totally  unfitted  to  take  part  in  our  gov- 
ernment, shall  be  excluded.  It  is  for  this  purpose  that  a 
judge,  standing  between  an  alien  and  the  United  States, 
is  selected  to  pass  upon  the  question,  having  due  regard 
to  the  rights  of  the  alien  and  of  the  United  States.  For  a 
judge  to  fail  to  adjudicate  upon  this  question  with  the 
same  conscientious  faithfulness  with  which  he  would  de- 
termine any  other  question  of  fact  before  him  would  be 
an  offence  against  the  people  of  the  whole  United  States. 

While  our  naturalization  laws,  if  properly  administered, 
would  go  a  long  way  to  check  the  evil  that  we  are  consider- 
ing, they  still  need  radical  revision  and  change.  An  appeal 
should  be  made  to  Congress  to  enter  into  the  examination 
of  this  important  question,  and,  so  far  as  the  enactment  of 
law  can  effect  the  object,  provide  that  hereafter  no  such 
crime  shall  be  committed  against  American  citizenship  as 
has  disgraced  our  history  in  the  past.  This  question  ap- 
peals to  Americans  of  all  parties,  and  with  the  same  force 
to  those  naturalized  citizens  who  have  intelligently  and 
worthily  become  part  and  parcel  of  our  country  as  to  those 
who  are  native  born.  It  should  not  be  considered  from 
a  partisan  point  of  view.  There  should  be  an  uprising  of 
a  great  people,  without  distinction  of  parties,  whose  voice 
would  be  heard  and  listened  to  by  the  representatives  of 
all  the  parties.  The  evil  is  one  that  pertains  to  the  body 
politic.  We  may  all  differ  and  classify  ourselves  as  Ke- 
publicans  and  Democrats,  but  on  this  particular  question 
we  should  know  no  party,  no  North,  no  South,  no  East, 


NEW  ORLEANS  RIOTS  (SECOND  REPORT)  161 

no  West,  but  should  all  stand  together  as  American  citi- 
zens to  protect  our  common  heritage.  There  will  be  party 
leaders  in  both  parties  who  will  imagine  they  see  certain 
advantages  or  disadvantages  in  opposing  the  demand  for 
the  revision  of  the  naturalization  laws,  and  who  will  trim 
and  pose  accordingly;  but  if  they  can  be  made  to  under- 
stand that  the  American  people  are  a  unit  on  this  question 
of  the  revision  of  the  naturalization  laws,  there  is  no  party 
or  body  of  legislators  who  will  not  give  a  respectful  hear- 
ing to  the  American  people. 

One  important  fact  should  be  noted  in  considering  this 
subject.  The  right  of  citizenship  is  not  the  same  as  the 
right  of  suffrage.  In  seventeen  States  and  Territories  the 
right  of  suffrage  is  conferred  upon  aliens  who  have  only 
declared  their  intentions  to  become  citizens.  In  such  cases 
the  State  has  lost  control  of  the  question  of  the  fitness  of 
electors  who  are  foreign  born. 

The  remedy  for  this  difficulty  is  not  in  the  federal  gov- 
ernment. Each  State  has  the  power  of  conferring  suffrage 
within  its  own  jurisdiction.  None  but  citizens  should  have 
the  right  of  suffrage.  Good  faith  between  the  States'  re- 
quires that  this  should  be  the  common  rule  of  all  the 
States.  In  about  fifteen  States  electors  for  President, 
Vice-President,  and  representatives  in  Congress  can  be 
voted  for  by  aliens  who  have  only  declared  their  intentions 
to  become  citizens,  and  so  it  may  come  to  pass  that  un- 
naturalized  foreigners  who  may  never  become  citizens  may 
determine  who  shall  be  President  and  Vice-President  and 
who  shall  have  control  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

This  question  should  receive  the  serious  and  immediate 
consideration  of  those  States  who  have  conferred  this  ex- 
traordinary power  upon  aliens. 

The  revision  of  the  naturalization  laws  we  are  contend- 
11 


162  NEW  ORLEANS  RIOTS  (SECOND  REPORT) 

ing  for  will  not  help  the  case  of  these  seventeen  States  and 
Territories  which  have  so  unwisely,  as  it  seems  to  us, 
cheapened  the  right  of  suffrage. 

Your  committee  have  given  consideration  to  a  method 
of  appealing  to  Congress,  irrespective  of  party,  and  believe 
that  a  petition  circulated  throughout  the  land  and  endorsed 
and  approved  by  all  classes  of  good  citizens,  native  and 
foreign  born,  will  be  listened  to,  and  that  a  proper  and 
effective  revision  of  these  laws  will  be  made. 

New  York,  April  28,  1891. 


GOVERNOR  DAVID  B.  HILL'S  STEAL  OF  THE 
SENATE  OE  THE  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK 

Recent  events  in  the  political  history  of  this  State  have 
been  of  such  an  unusual  and  extraordinary  character  as 
to  demand  a  careful  and  critical  examination.  The  feeling 
is  universal  that  a  great  wrong  has  been  committed  against 
the  people  of  the  State  by  the  seating  of  three  senators 
who  were  not  elected  by  the  people  of  their  respective 
districts.  Somehow  the  laws  have  been  evaded  or  swerved 
from  their  ordinary  course  in  such  a  manner  as  to  cause 
consternation  and  alarm  in  the  minds  of  law-abiding  citi- 
zens. The  work  has  been  so  deftly  done  that  few  have 
stopped  to  analyze  the  process  and  see  where  the  laws  have 
been  violated,  but  all  know  and  feel  that  there  has  been 
a  violent  and  extraordinary  result  produced  by  those  high 
in  authority,  a  result  never  contemplated  by  the  founders 
of  our  institutions,  and  a  result  not  in  accordance  with  the 
usual  working  of  the  same. 

The  questions  are  asked  on  all  hands,  What  is  our  gov- 
ernment worth  ?  What  is  to  become  of  the  ballot-box  and 
of  our  system  of  government  if  such  results  can  be  lawfully 
worked  out  within  the  pale  of  the  Constitution  and  the 
laws  ?  Are  all  the  bulwarks  of  government  that  have  been 
so  carefully  reared  for  more  than  one  hundred  years 
crumbling  to  their  fall  ?  Are  we  travelling  with  acceler- 
ated speed  toward  that  anarchy  and  confusion  that  always 
follow  the  assumption  of  unlawful  powers  by  those  high 
in  authority  ? 


164     GOVERNOR  HILL'S  STEAL  OF  THE  STATE  SENATE 

An  examination  of  a  few  of  the  fundamental  axioms 
upon  which  the  American  system  of  government  is 
founded  will  enable  us  to  point  out  with  certainty  the 
author  and  chief  promoter  of  this  wrong. 

First  and  foremost,  the  ballot-box  is  the  recognized 
medium  for  the  expression  of  the  will  of  the  people.  The 
purity  of  the  ballot-box  is  the  chief  cornerstone  of  our 
system  of  government.  Hamilton  said : 

"  The  fabric  of  the  American  empire  ought  to  rest  on 
the  solid  basis  of  the  consent  of  the  people.  The  streams 
of  power  ought  to  flow  immediately  from  that  pure  original 
fountain  of  all  legitimate  authority." 

It  is  only  in  this  way  that  a  free  people  express  their 
will.  At  all  events  this  is  our  only  way.  This  final 
verdict  has  been  in  theory,  and  ought  to  be  in  fact,  con- 
clusive as  to  rulers.  Heretofore  the  greatest  solicitude 
of  intelligent  and  patriotic  citizens  has  been  to  secure  an 
honest  vote  and  an  honest  count.  It  has  generally  been 
regarded  that  the  greatest  peril  to  our  system  of  govern- 
ment has  been  the  difficulty  of  getting  from  the  people 
an  honest  vote  and  an  uncorrupted  return  of  the  same. 
Numerous  laws  and  devices  have  been  framed  to  guard 
well  the  ballot-box.  The  result  has  not  been  satisfactory. 
Never,  until  after  the  late  election,  has  it  been  supposed 
in  this  Empire  State  that  that  result  could  or  would  be 
changed  by  those  high  in  authority. 

Suddenly  and  unexpectedly  we  are  brought  face  to  face 
with  the  alarming  fact  that  State  officials  of  the  highest 
standing  could  find  ways  and  means  to  reverse  the  result 
of  the  ballot-box  and  were  willing  to  commit  this  political 
crime.  This  is  a  new  and  unexpected  result,  one  not 
naturally  flowing  out  of  the  American  system  of  govern- 


GOVERNOR  HILL'S  STEAL  OF  THE  STATE  SENATE     165 

ment;  and  the  process  should  be  examined  carefully  by 
every  lover  of  his  country,  irrespective  of  party  affiliation, 
to  discover  who  are  the  authors  and  perpetrators  of  the 
crime.  The  founders  of  our  republican  form  of  govern- 
ment knew  well  the  propensity  of  unscrupulous  men, 
clothed  with  authority,  to  usurp  power  not  conferred  upon 
them,  and  to  warp  and  twist  all  laws  from  their  true  mean- 
ing to  compass  personal  and  partisan  ends. 

The  people  gave  power  to  rulers  with  great  caution  and 
reluctance.  They  had  studied  deeply  and  carefully  the 
political  history  of  all  nations  that  had  preceded  them. 
They  understood  perfectly  that  unrestrained  ambition, 
cupidity,  and  usurpation  were  the  causes  that  had  wrought 
the  ruin  of  nations;  that  the  allurements  of  power  have 
always  been  the  menace  of  the  liberties  of  the  people. 

Madison  said: 

"  It  will  not  be  denied  that  power  is  of  an  encroach- 
ing nature,  and  that  it  ought  to  be  effectually  restrained 
from  passing  the  limits  assigned  to  it." 

While  the  founders  of  the  republic  knew  that  a  govern- 
ment is  necessary,  they  provided  a  system  of  government 
with  limited  powers  in  their  rulers,  with  checks  and  bal- 
ances to  prevent  usurpations.  They  provided  a  written 
Constitution,  guarding  the  people's  rights  at  every  point. 

The  fundamental  idea  of  the  American  system  of  gov- 
ernment is  that  it  shall  be  divided  into  three  grand  divi- 
sions— the  executive,  the  legislative,  and  the  judiciary. 
It  was  intended  that  each  should  be  absolutely  indepen- 
dent of  the  other.  This  principle  is  imbedded  in  the 
scheme  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  in 
the  constitution  of  each  of  the  several  States. 

Madison  says  that  it  is  a  "  political  maxim  that  the 


166     GOVERNOR  HILL'S  STEAL  OF  THE  STATE  SENATE 

legislative,  executive,  and  judiciary  departments  ought  to 
be  separate  and  distinct.     No  political  truth  is  certainly 
of  greater  intrinsic  value  or  is  stamped  with  the  authority 
of  more  enlightened  patrons  of  liberty." 
Jefferson  said: 

"  The  concentration  of  these  powers  in  the  same  hands 
is  precisely  the  definition  of  despotic  government." 

Again,  Madison,  after  discussing  the  effect  of  this  sepa- 
ration in  preserving  the  liberties  of  the  citizen,  said : 

"  For  this  reason  that  convention  which  passed  the 
ordinance  (the  Constitution)  laid  its  foundation  on  this 
basis,  that  the  legislative,  executive,  and  judiciary  depart- 
ments should  be  separate  and  distinct." 

Six  of  the  States  that  adopted  constitutions  after  the 
Revolution,  expressed  this  distinction  in  one  form  or  an- 
other in  their  several  constitutions.  The  most  pointed 
instance  was  that  of  Massachusetts.  The  declaration  of 
principles  in  that  constitution  has  been  continued  without 
change  to  this  day,  and  is  as  follows : 

"  In  the  government  of  this  commonwealth  the  legisla- 
tive department  shall  never  exercise  the  executive  and  judi- 
cial powers,  or  either  of  them;  the  executive  shall  never 
exercise  the  legislative  and  judicial  powers,  or  either  of 
them ;  the  judicial  shall  never  exercise  the  legislative  and 
executive  powers,  or  either  of  them ;  to  the  end  that  it  may 
be  a  government  of  laws  and  not  of  men." 

At  another  time  Madison  said : 

"  But  the  great  security  against  a  gradual  concentration 
of  the  several  powers  in  the  same  department  consists  in 


GOVERNOR  HILL'S  STEAL  OF  THE  STATE  SENATE     167 

giving  to  those  who  administer  each  department  the  neces- 
sary constitutional  means  and  personal  motive  to  resist 
encroachments  of  the  others.  The  provision  for  defence 
must  in  this,  as  in  all  other  cases,  be  made  commensurate 
to  the  danger  of  attack." 

Hamilton,  in  discussing  the  same  subject  of  the  three 
great  divisions  of  power,  says : 

"  The  judiciary,  on  the  contrary,  has  no  influence  over 
either  the  sword  or  the  purse,  no  direction  either  of  the 
strength  or  of  the  wealth  of  society,  and  can  take  no  active 
resolution  whatever.  It  may  truly  be  said  to  have  neither 
force  nor  will,  but  merely  judgment,  and  must  ultimately 
depend  upon  the  aid  of  the  executive  arm  for  the  effica- 
cious exercise  of  this  faculty.  This  simple  view  of  the 
matter  suggests  several  important  consequences.  It  proves 
incontestably  that  the  judiciary  is,  by  comparison,  the 
weakest  of  the  three  divisions  of  power;  that  it  can  never 
attack  with  success  either  of  the  other  two;  and  that  all 
possible  care  is  requisite  to  enable  it  to  defend  itself 
against  their  attacks." 

Professor  Bryce,  in  his  great  work  entitled  "The  Ameri- 
can Commonwealth,"  in  discussing  the  doctrine  of  the 
limited  powers  of  the  executive,  says: 

"  This  is  a  consequence  of  the  English  doctrine  that  all 
executive  power  is  strictly  limited  by  the  laws,  and  is, 
indeed,  a  cornerstone  of  English  liberty." 

He  further  says,  when  discussing  the  American  system 
of  government : 

"  Each  organ  of  government — the  executive,  the  legis- 
lative, the  judiciary — is  made  a  jealous  observer  and  re- 


168     GOVERNOR  HILL'S  STEAL  OF  THE  STATE  SENATE 

strainer  of  the  others.  Since  the  people,  being  too  numer- 
ous, cannot  directly  manage  their  affairs,  but  must  commit 
them  to  agents,  they  resolved  to  prevent  abuses  by  trust- 
ing each  agent  as  little  as  possible,  and  subjecting  him  to 
the  oversight  of  other  agents  who  will  harass  and  check 
him  if  he  attempts  to  overstep  his  instructions." 

The  English  people  point  with  pride  to  the  fact  that 
executive  usurpations  were  practically  stamped  out  be- 
tween the  time  of  the  Norman  Conquest  and  1688,  when 
English  liberty  was  established  upon  the  rock  of  strict 
constitutional  limits  to  executive  power. 

The  abuse  of  executive  power  was  the  thing  dreaded  by 
the  founders  of  the  republic.  They  had  studied  deeply 
the  history  of  nations  that  preceded  them.  They  exerted 
all  their  ingenuity  and  ability  to  guard  and  limit  the 
powers  of  the  people's  servants  when  placed  in  authority, 
as  the  only  way  of  preserving  the  liberties  of  the  people. 

A  capital  offence  by  David  B.  Hill,  while  governor  of 
this  State,  pending  the  controversy  over  the  late  election, 
was  his  unwarrantable  invasion  of  the  proper  domain  of 
the  judiciary.  It  is  not  claimed  nor  pretended  that  he 
exercised  judicial  functions,  as  such,  in  a  technical  sense ; 
but  the  proper  domain  of  the  judiciary  may  be  invaded  in 
various  ways.  Anything  which  thwarts  and  defeats  the 
working  of  that  part  of  our  system  is  a  dangerous  usurpa- 
tion and  is  revolutionary. 

We  have  the  unusual  spectacle  of  three  senatorial  seats 
occupied  by  men  claiming  to  represent  their  respective 
districts,  no  one  of  whom  received  a  majority  or  a  plurality 
of  the  votes  of  his  district.  So  far  as  those  districts  are 
concerned,  the  verdict  of  the  ballot-box  and  the  voice  of 
the  people  have  been  ineffectual.  Others  than  the  people 


GOVERNOR  HILL'S  STEAL  OF  THE  STATE  SENATE     169 

of  the  district  have  named  and  designated  the  senators  to 
occupy  those  seats. 

The  situation  after  the  election  was,  in  brief,  as  follows : 
There  were  seventeen  Republican  senators  elected  by  the 
votes  of  a  majority  of  the  electors  in  their  respective  dis- 
tricts ;  fourteen  Democratic  senators  were,  in  like  manner, 
elected  in  their  respective  districts,  and  one  Independent 
senator,  making  a  total  of  thirty-two  senators.  The  consti- 
tution provides  that  "  a  majority  of  each  house  shall  con- 
stitute a  quorum  to  do  business."  Seventeen  senators  are 
a  quorum.  The  problem  presented  to  the  Democrats  was 
how  to  secure  three  Republican  seats,  so  as  to  increase 
their  number  of  senators  to  seventeen — just  a  quorum. 
Threats  were  made  against  a  number  of  districts,  but  as  up 
to  date  they  have  taken  possession  of  only  three,  the  15th, 
the  25th,  and  27th  districts,  these  are  the  only  districts 
we  shall  refer  to  in  this  paper. 

In  the  15th  district,  commonly  known  in  this  contro- 
versy as  Senator  Dean's  district,  a  majority  of  the  super- 
visors, acting  as  a  canvassing  board,  threw  out  for  friv- 
olous reasons  enough  Dean  votes  to  elect  Osburn,  the 
Democrat.  The  county  clerk  refused  to  sign  the  false  re- 
turns. The  supervisors  appointed  a  clerk  pro  tern.,  by  the 
name  of  Mylod,  who  signed  the  false  returns,  and  the  same 
were  forwarded  to  Albany,  and  thus  an  apparent  return 
from  Dutchess  County  got  on  the  files  in  the  State  offices. 

While  the  Supreme  Court  was  proceeding  with  the  in- 
vestigation of  the  case  in  the  usual  manner,  Governor  Hill 
removed  the  clerk  of  Dutchess  County  and  appointed  one 
subservient  to  his  will.  The  judicial  determination  of 
the  controversy  was  in  favor  of  Dean.  Then  came  the 
struggle  to  compel  the  clerk  appointed  by  Governor  Hill 
to  sign  and  forward  the  true  returns,  as  determined  by 


170     GOVERNOR  HILL'S  STEAL  OP  THE  STATE  SENATE 

the  court.  Finding  no  way  of  escape,  the  clerk  mailed  the 
returns  to  Albany  on  the  afternoon  of  December  21st, 
and,  hearing  of  a  stay,  he  immediately  followed  to  Albany 
and  had  an  interview  with  Governor  Hill  at  about  seven 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  December  22d,  and  asked  the 
governor  what  he  should  do.  The  governor  referred  him 
to  Maynard,  as  counsel  for  the  State  Canvassing  Board. 
Soon  after  that,  and  at  about  nine  o'clock  that  morn- 
ing, Maynard  took  one  copy  of  the  true  returns  from  the 
Comptroller's  Office.  Rice,  the  secretary  of  State,  deliv- 
ered a  copy  of  the  true  returns  in  his  office  to  the  county 
clerk,  and  an  office  boy  in  Governor  Hill's  employ  al- 
lowed the  county  clerk  to  take  from  the  governor's  table 
a  third  copy,  all  of  which  copies  were  carried  away  by  the 
county  clerk  of  Dutchess  County,  who  had  applied  to  Gov- 
ernor Hill  at  seven  o'clock  that  morning  for  direction  in 
the  new  situation.  It  has  since  been  judicially  decided 
that  these  three  true  returns  were  a  part  of  the  lawful 
files  of  the  State  at  the  time  they  were  removed. 

The  situation  then  was  that  the  former  false  returns 
remained  alone  on  the  files. 

Turning  now  to  the  25th  district,  Peck,  the  Republican, 
had  a  fair  majority  of  373  votes.  In  some  of  the  election 
districts  the  clerk  had  sent  ballots  intended  for  one  district 
to  another  district.  This  was  held  to  be  a  fatal  error  by 
the  Court  of  Appeals.  Whole  districts  were  disfran- 
chised, so  that  about  fifteen  hundred  electors  had  no  voice 
in  electing  their  senators.  It  chanced  that  the  Republi- 
cans were  in  the  majority  in  the  disfranchised  districts, 
and  Nichols,  the  Democrat,  got  the  seat  to  which  Peck 
was  elected. 

Going  now  to  the  27th  district,  Sherwood,  the  Republi- 
can, was  elected  by  about  1,700  majority.  The  returns 


GOVERNOR  HILL'S  STEAL  OP  THE  STATE  SENATE     171 

sent  to  Albany  showed  him  elected,  but  he  was  ineligible 
by  reason  of  holding  another  office. 

Coming  now  to  the  State  Canvassing  Board,  let  us  see 
how  they  managed  their  part  of  the  drama.  They  had 
no  difficulty  in  the  25th  district  in  giving  to  Nichols,  the 
Democrat,  the  seat  to  which  Peck,  the  Republican,  was 
elected.  ~No  blame  can  attach  to  them  for  this  act  under 
the  decision  of  the  Court  of  Appeals,  however  unjust  it 
was  to  the  district  to  have  a  man  seated  to  represent  them 
who  was  never  elected. 

The  effect  of  this  was  to  raise  the  number  of  Demo- 
cratic seats  from  fourteen  to  fifteen  and  reduce  the  Repub- 
lican seats  to  sixteen.  The  Democrats  were  still  two  seats 
short  of  the  coveted  quorum  of  seventeen  senators. 

The  State  Canvassing  Board  had  returns  before  them 
showing  a  Republican  elected  by  over  1,700  majority  in 
the  27th  district.  Knowing  that  they  had  nothing  to  do 
but  to  canvass  returns,  and  could  not  go  behind  them  to 
consider  Sherwood's  eligibility,  they  refused  to  give  a 
certificate  to  anybody.  The  effect  of  this  was  to  take  from 
the  Republicans  one  seat,  reducing  them  to  fifteen,  but  did 
not  for  the  time  being  give  the  Democrats  a  seat. 

In  fact,  for  the  time  being,  and  pending  the  organization 
of  the  Senate  soon  to  take  place,  that  seat  was  vacant. 

The  Dutchess  district,  the  15th,  was  the  pivotal  district. 
A  true  and  honest  return  had  been  made  under  the  orders 
of  the  court;  it  had  been  duly  sent  under  the  orders  of 
the  court,  and  arrived  in  the  rooms  of  the  governor, 
the  secretary  of  State,  and  comptroller;  and  it  was  just 
here  that  the  convenient  tool  appointed  by  Hill  as  clerk 
of  Dutchess  County  had  performed  the  important  and 
delicate  act  to  consummate  the  scheme  to  deprive  the 
State  of  its  chosen  senators,  the  details  of  which  are  stated 


172     GOVERNOR  HILL'S  STEAL  OF  THE  STATE  SENATE 

above.  It  would  have  been  awkward  for  the  State  can- 
vassers to  have  disregarded  the  true  returns  from  Dutchess 
County,  had  they  been  on  their  files  at  the  time  they  were 
making  their  canvass.  After  the  conference  of  the  county 
clerk  with  Governor  Hill  that  morning  in  Albany,  these 
true  returns  all  disappeared,  being  taken  from  the  State 
offices  by  the  clerk  of  Dutchess  County,  thus  defeating 
all  the  efforts  of  the  judiciary  to  determine  who  was  elected 
in  the  15th  district,  and  the  State  canvassers  canvassed 
the  false  returns  that  bore  the  judicial  stamp  of  fraud  and 
gave  the  seat  to  a  Democrat.  This  gave  the  Democrats 
sixteen  seats,  the  Republicans  fourteen  seats,  and  one 
Independent  Republican.  Thus  closed  the  State  canvass- 
ers' work.  When  the  Senate  assembled  there  were  thirty- 
one  senators  and  one  vacancy — Democrats  sixteen,  Re- 
publicans fourteen,  and  an  Independent. 

The  Independent  voted  with  the  Democrats  to  organize 
the  Senate.  The  Senate  immediately  filled  the  vacancy 
in  the  27th  district  with  the  Democrat,  who  lacked  over 
1,700  votes  of  being  elected,  and  the  coveted  quorum  of 
seventeen  Democratic  senators  was  secured  and  the  Senate 
made  solidly  Democratic. 

An  honest  administration  of  the  law  called  for  a  new 
election  in  at  least  two  of  the  districts,  the  15th  and  the 
27th;  in  the  15th  because  of  the  death  of  Dean,  and  in 
the  27th  because  of  the  ineligibility  of  the  man  elected. 

There  were  numerous  actors  in  this  drama  of  political 
crime,  and  it  is  not  possible,  within  the  limits  of  this  paper, 
to  discuss  all  the  phases  of  the  conspiracy  and  to  point  out 
the  part  which  each  actor  performed. 

It  was  possible  and  proper,  touching  the  legal  status 
of  these  three  several  districts,  to  have  disposed  of  them 
through  the  action  of  the  judiciary,  without  the  interven- 


GOVERNOR  HILL'S  STEAL  OF  THE  STATE  SENATE     178 

tion  of  the  governor,  in  the  proceedings  being  carried  on 
by  the  judges.  Judge  Gray  states,  in  his  opinion  in  the 
Rice  case,  that : 

"  The  constitution  provides  for  elections  by  ballot,  and 
the  legislature  enacts  laws  respecting  such  elections  and 
prescribes  the  mode  of  declaring  and  certifying  the  result. 
For  the  settlement  of  contests  over  elections  courts  exist, 
with  adequate  powers  to  investigate  the  causes  of  com- 
plaints, and  for  that  end  to  take  proofs  and  to  adjudge 
accordingly." 

While  this  legal  and  constitutional  method  was  pro- 
gressing in  the  Dutchess  district,  Governor  Hill,  in  a  sum- 
mary and  extraordinary  way,  removed  from  office  the 
clerk  of  Dutchess  County,  and  placed  in  power  a  man  sub- 
servient to  his  will.  He  knew  that  the  court  was  then 
investigating  the  election  controversy  at  that  place;  that 
it  had  ample  power  to  examine  and  adjudicate  upon  the 
rights  of  the  contestants,  and  to  cause  that  judicial  deter- 
mination to  be  transmitted  in  due  form  to  the  proper  au- 
thorities at  Albany.  Fearing  that  this  result  might  not 
be  satisfactory  to  himself,  the  governor  removes  the  for- 
mer clerk  and  appoints  as  clerk  a  man  whom  he  could  and 
did  afterward  use  to  defeat  and  thwart  the  judiciary.  It 
was  Governor  Hill's  acts,  by  his  appointed  clerk  of 
Dutchess  County,  that  prevented  the  judicial  determina- 
tion in  that  district  ripening  in  the  ordinary  course  into 
a  final  determination  in  favor  of  the  election  of  Dean  as 
senator,  and  without  Governor  Hill's  intervention  the  pres- 
ent incumbent,  Walker,  could  never  have  taken  his  seat 
in  the  Senate. 
In  the  Onondaga  district,  while  the  court  was  proceed- 


174     GOVERNOR  HILL'S  STEAL  OF  THE  STATE  SENATE 

ing  to  maintain  its  dignity  and  to  enforce  obedience  to 
its  orders  by  punishing,  by  fine  and  imprisonment  for 
thirty  days,  a  supervisor  for  contempt  of  court  in  not 
sending  back  returns  for  correction,  Governor  Hill  again 
showed  his  contempt  for  the  judiciary  by  immediately 
pardoning  the  offender  against  the  authority  and  dignity 
of  the  court,  so  that  his  incarceration  did  not  exceed  two 
hours. 

While  it  is  true  that  in  the  Onondaga  district  the  acts  of 
Governor  Hill  did  not  in  the  sequel  lead  to  so  important 
results  as  in  the  Dutchess  district,  that  does  not  soften  in 
any  manner  nor  abate  one  iota  from  the  gravity  of  his 
offence  in  interfering  with  the  judiciary. 

Wherever  there  were  legal  proceedings  in  this  contro- 
versy the  hand  of  Governor  Hill  was  seen  to  defeat  and 
thwart  those  proceedings  whenever  and  wherever  they 
were  supposed  to  be  adverse  to  his  interests  and  to  the 
interests  of  his  party. 

He  seems  to  have  a  great  regard  for  judicial  decisions 
in  his  favor,  but  great  contempt  for  judicial  decisions  that 
are  against  his  schemes.  The  regard  he  expresses  for 
the  decisions  in  his  favor  does  not  count  for  that  true  re- 
gard for  the  judiciary  which  is  due  from  the  executive  for 
an  independent  and  coordinate  branch  of  the  government. 
Our  charge  is  not  that  he  thwarted  and  defied  all  judicial 
decisions.  The  gravamen  of  the  charge  is  that  he  thwarted 
and  defied  some  of  them. 

The  very  thing  which  the  fathers  of  the  republic  tried  to 
prevent  has  happened  in  this  State,  through  the  interven- 
tion of  Governor  Hill.  He  has  disturbed  that  balance 
of  power  which  is  essential  to  the  working  of  a  govern- 
ment of  laws  for  a  free  people.  He  has  made  the  govern- 
ment of  this  State,  in  the  substantial  language  of  the  con- 


GOVERNOR  HILL'S  STEAL  OF  THE  STATE  SENATE     175 

stitution  of  Massachusetts,  a  government  of  men  but  not 
of  laws. 

It  is  a  serious  matter  when  an  ambitious  man,  high  in 
authority,  thwarts  and  defeats  the  ordinary  processes  of 
the  courts  and  robs  the  people  of  the  sacred  right  of  choos- 
ing their  own  rulers.  It  is  an  offence  which  ought  not  to 
be  overlooked  by  a  free  and  self-respecting  people. 

It  is  not  claimed  that  Governor  Hill  performed  every 
act  which  brought  about  this  wrong.  Many  men  of  dif- 
ferent grades  were  cooperating  with  him,  and  it  would 
take  a  history  of  considerable  length  to  detail  the  acts  of 
each  person.  The  purpose  of  this  paper  is  to  focalize  the 
attention  of  the  public  upon  the  acts  performed  by  Gov- 
ernor Hill,  that  their  attention  may  not  be  diverted  to  acts 
performed  by  his  co-conspirators.  Without  his  active  par- 
ticipation in  the  great  crime  it  would  never  have  been  at- 
tempted. Governor  Hill  is  responsible  and  chargeable 
with  the  whole  wrong.  No  one  man  performs  every  act 
in  a  conspiracy.  Different  parts  are  to  be  performed  by 
different  persons.  When  we  see  several  persons  doing 
different  things  in  a  conspiracy,  but  all  acting  in  harmony 
to  produce  a  result,  which  result  is  finally  consummated, 
the  conclusion  is  inevitable  that  each  one  understood  the 
part  the  other  was  to  perform.  Each  actor  is  held  respon- 
sible for  the  act  of  the  others,  and  is  chargeable  with  the 
knowledge  of  the  parts  the  others  are  to  play.  It  is  par- 
ticularly so  of  a  leader  in  a  conspiracy.  When  a  leader 
boldly  and  vigorously  performs  his  part,  which  completes 
the  whole  conspiracy,  he  cannot  escape  the  charge  of  being 
a  guilty  party  to  the  conspiracy  in  all  its  parts.  Men  co- 
operating for  a  general  result  cannot  escape  the  odium  of 
conspiracy  by  pointing  to  somebody  else  as  having  per- 
formed some  of  the  acts.  It  was  by  the  acts  of  Governor 


176     GOVERNOR  HILL'S  STEAL  OF  THE  STATE  SENATE 

Hill  and  those  associated  with  him  that  at  least  two  of  the 
three  seats  are  now  occupied  in  the  Senate  by  persons  not 
chosen  by  a  majority  or  a  plurality  of  the  voters  in  those 
districts. 

The  final  consummation  of  the  political  crime  came 
when  the  State  Canvassing  Board  canvassed  the  fraudu- 
lent returns  in  the  Dutchess  County  case,  well  knowing 
that  there  were  then  in  existence  true  returns  that  gave 
the  seat  to  Dean.  The  members  of  the  board  may  live  long 
enough  to  repent  of  the  great  crime,  but  they  will  not  live 
long  enough  to  remove  the  stain  from  the  fair  reputations 
they  had  possessed  before  this  crime  was  committed. 
Charity  for  them  can  go  no  further  than  to  hope  that  they 
did  not  appreciate  the  enormity  of  their  offence  against 
the  American  system  of  government  and  against  the 
American  people.  The  shame  and  the  humiliation  of  this 
is  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  State  of  New  York.  It  will 
be  dealt  with  hereafter  by  the  people  as  a  serious  political 
crime.  It  is  a  matter  of  solemn  import  to  the  people.  If 
it  shall  become  established  as  a  part  of  our  political  history 
that  the  fruits  of  the  ballot-box  shall  be  snatched  away 
from  the  people  by  those  high  in  authority  as  their  rulers, 
then  elections  are  a  farce,  and  the  government  becomes  the 
spoil  of  ambitious  partisans  who  may  be  clothed  with 
power. 

It  is  of  the  highest  importance  that  we  turn  back  and 
contemplate  the  system  of  government  founded  by  the 
fathers  of  the  republic,  and  study  and  ponder  deeply  the 
principles  upon  which  it  is  based,  before  it  is  too  late  to 
rescue  that  system  from  destruction.  This  matter  comes 
home  with  peculiar  force  to  the  people  of  the  State  of 
New  York.  The  shame  and  degradation  are  ours. 

In  a  larger  and  broader  sense  it  is  important  for  the 


GOVERNOR  HILL'S  STEAL  OP  THE  STATE  SENATE     177 

people  of  the  United  States  to  study  well  and  carefully 
the  character  and  conduct  of  Governor  Hill  while  acting 
as  governor  of  this  State.  He  is  now  posing  as  a  candidate 
for  President  of  the  United  States.  The  people  of  the 
United  States  should  calmly  and  deliberately  determine 
whether  they  are  prepared  to  entrust  the  government  of 
these  United  States  to  a  man  who  is  so  regardless  of  the 
principles  upon  which  our  form  of  government  is  founded. 
It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  such  a  man  is  a  dangerous 
man  to  entrust  with  power,  where  that  power  can  be  reck- 
lessly used  to  promote  his  ends  and  defeat  a  coordinate 
branch  of  the  government. 

It  is  not  believed  that  the  Democratic  party  have  yet, 
as  a  whole,  ceased  to  love  and  revere  the  institutions  of 
our  country.  In  this  State  there  is  a  large  body  of  them 
who  are  sensitive  and  who  have  resented  the  innovations 
of  Governor  Hill  in  a  simple  matter  of  party  usage — in 
calling  a  State  convention — showing  that  they  appreciate 
the  dangerous  effects  of  transgressing,  even  in  party  usage, 
the  practices  and  rules  of  a  party.  How  much  greater, 
then,  is  the  offence  of  this  man  in  bending  all  the  great 
powers  of  a  governor  of  a  State  to  the  work  of  defeating 
the  verdict  of  the  people  at  the  ballot-box,  and  injuring 
and  impeding  the  progress  of  the  courts  of  the  State  while 
investigating  contested  claims  arising  under  the  laws  of 
the  election  ?  While  we  admire  the  spirit  of  those  Demo- 
crats who  resent  the  usurpations  of  Governor  Hill  in  the 
routine  of  party  politics,  it  would  have  been  a  pleasing 
spectacle,  and  one  creditable  to  those  who  were  assembled 
at  Cooper  Union,  if  they  had  taken  occasion  to  devote  a 
part  of  their  time  to  the  arraignment  of  Governor  Hill 
for  his  invasion  of  the  domain  of  the  judiciary.  It  would 

have  shown  them  not  only  to  have  been  loyal  partisans  in 
12 


178     GOVERNOR  HILL'S  STEAL  OF  THE  STATE  SENATE 

their  party,  but  also  devoted  lovers  of  the  institutions  of 
their  country.  It  is  unfortunate  that  those  who  protested 
against  the  conduct  of  Governor  Hill  as  a  politician  should 
have  laid  themselves  open  to  the  suspicion  that  they  were 
willing  to  avail  themselves  of  the  benefits  of  his  wrongful 
acts  without  condemning  him  for  his  offences  against  the 
ballot-box  and  judiciary. 

Washington,  in  his  first  inaugural,  said :  "  The  destiny 
of  the  republican  model  of  government  is  justly  considered 
as  deeply,  perhaps  as  finally,  staked  on  the  experiment 
entrusted  to  the  hands  of  the  American  people." 

The  question  of  the  hour  is,  Do  the  people  of  this  State, 
and  of  the  United  States,  possess  sufficient  patriotism  and 
love  for  our  American  system  of  government  to  defend 
it  from  such  encroachments  upon  its  fundamental  prin- 
ciples as  have  been  made  upon  them  by  Governor  Hill  ? 

We,  therefore,  recommend  the  adoption  of  the 
following : 

Resolved,  That  this  club  accepts  and  adopts  the  fore- 
going report  as  the  report  of  the  club. 

New  York,  February  23, 1892. 


HAWAIIAN  ISLANDS 

The  great  importance  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  to  this 
country  is  in  danger  of  being  lost  sight  of  by  the  public. 
There  was  an  intuitive  appreciation  of  their  importance 
and  a  general  approval  of  their  acquisition  when  the  op- 
portunity to  do  so  first  presented  itself.  The  delay  in  rati- 
fying the  treaty  recently  negotiated  between  the  United 
States  and  the  commissioners  of  the  provisional  govern- 
ment of  the  islands  is  causing  no  little  anxiety  in  the  minds 
of  those  who  have  considered  the  subject  carefully. 

The  question  presents  itself  in  two  aspects :  first,  as  to 
the  benefits  their  acquisition  will  be  to  this  nation,  and 
second,  as  to  the  menace  it  will  be  to  us  to  have  their  con- 
trol fall  into  the  hands  of  another  nation.  These  two 
questions  may  well  be  considered  together  in  the  few  sug- 
gestions we  make  by  way  of  argument  in  favor  of  their 
acquisition.  All  the  facts  of  the  situation  are  not  indis- 
putably known  to  the  public,  but  enough  is  known  to  safely 
lead  a  prudent  mind  to  the  conclusion  that  the  time  is  now 
ripe  for  the  annexation  of  the  islands,  and  that  such  an- 
nexation is  very  desirable  for  the  United  States.  While 
we  are  dealing  with  a  provisional  government,  it  is  a  de 
facto  government  recognized  by  substantially  all  the 
civilized  governments  of  the  world.  It  is  the  only  govern- 
ment on  the  islands.  Whatever  may  be  the  right  or  wrong 
of  the  overthrow  of  the  monarchy,  it  is  an  accomplished 
fact.  Revolutions  in  governments  seldom  follow  on  the 
strict  lines  of  moralists.  They  are  generally  attended  with 


180  HAWAIIAN  ISLANDS 

some  wrongs  to  somebody,  and  in  the  affairs  of  nations  it 
is  not  the  practice,  nor  is  it  practicable,  to  go  behind  revo- 
lutions to  inquire  deeply  into  the  causes  of  the  same,  or 
to  attempt  to  make  right  any  possible  wrong  that  may  have 
been  committed.  Governments  deal  with  recognized  gov- 
ernments. If  we  acquire  the  islands  it  will  not  be  by 
force  and  conquest,  but  by  the  consent  of  two  govern- 
ments empowered  to  deal  with  each  other.  Under  such 
circumstances,  the  acquisition  of  the  islands  will  follow 
the  traditional  policy  of  this  government.  Florida  was 
acquired  mainly  because  it  was  not  desirable  to  have  a 
Spanish  colony  located  there.  The  Louisiana  purchase 
was  made  largely  to  prevent  that  vast  territory  falling 
into  the  hands  of  the  British  government.  While  the  ele- 
ment of  the  value  of  these  acquisitions  weighed  heavily 
in  the  transaction,  the  question  of  territorial  protection 
was  a  great  factor.  The  acquisition  of  the  Hawaiian 
Islands  presents  itself  in  the  same  dual  light.  In  the 
event  of  war  it  would  be  a  menace  to  our  interests  and 
possessions  on  the  Pacific  Coast  to  have  them  fall  under 
the  dominion  of  any  other  power.  In  our  late  war  we 
had  abundant  experience  with  so-called  neutral  ports  near 
our  Atlantic  seaboard.  The  acquisition  of  the  islands  will 
be  of  great  value  to  our  growing  commerce  on  the  Pacific 
Ocean  in  times  of  peace.  Already  our  commerce  on  the 
Pacific  is  menaced  in  many  ways.  No  opportunity  to 
strengthen  our  hold  upon  the  vast  lines  of  trade  that  are 
so  rapidly  developing  there  should  be  lost.  Such  chances 
generally  come  but  once,  and,  if  lost  then,  may  be  lost 
forever. 

The  public  mind  has  not  risen  to  an  appreciation  of  the 
trend  of  events  in  these  days  in  the  matter  of  warfare. 
We  may  safely  rest  in  peace  and  feel  secure  from  any 


HAWAIIAN  ISLANDS  181 

army  of  men  that  may,  under  any  circumstances,  attack 
us  on  land.  No  army  could,  from  any  possible  source, 
effect  a  lodgment  here  that  we  could  not  easily  cope  with, 
but  is  this  the  case  in  the  event  of  an  attack  from  the  sea  ? 
No  thoughtful  man  would  dare  for  one  moment  to  affirm 
it.  The  navies  of  the  world  are  slowly  but  surely  increas- 
ing in  power  and  efficacy.  There  is  now  no  menace  of  at- 
tack apparent.  Numerous  arguments  of  the  most  forceful 
kind,  based  upon  policy  and  the  self-interest  of  other  na- 
tions, can  be  and  are  advanced  against  the  probability  of 
a  naval  attack  by  any  nation.  Is  it  quite  safe  to  rest  in 
peaceful  security,  depending  upon  right  and  justice,  while 
our  Atlantic  and  Pacific  coasts  are  vulnerable  to  attack 
from  the  sea  ?  Should  any  opportunity  be  lost  to  add  any- 
thing to  their  security  that  we  can?  Reason  as  we  may 
about  the  probability  of  such  an  attack,  we  are  not  safe 
until  we  make  ourselves  secure  in  the  event  of  an  attack. 
In  the  history  of  the  world,  when  the  time  has  been  ripe 
for  startling  events,  the  movements  have  been  rapid  and 
unexpected  to  the  average  observer.  The  men  to  lead  the 
movements  have  almost  always  sprung  up  suddenly  from 
obscurity.  No  one  could  have  foretold  the  genius  and 
ambition  of  Napoleon  ten  years  before  all  the  thrones  of 
Europe  were  tottering  to  their  fall.  Four  years  was  long 
enough  to  raise  our  own  Grant  from  obscurity  to  the  rank 
of  the  first  captain  of  his  age.  The  Franco-Prussian  war 
seemed  to  break  out  suddenly  from  trifling  causes,  with 
startling  results.  Because  nothing  seems  likely  to  happen 
to  involve  us  in  a  great  naval  contest,  it  by  no  means 
follows  that  such  a  contest  may  not  come  upon  us.  Im- 
portant international  events  may  be  ripening  faster  than 
we  think.  Ambition  and  the  love  of  glory  may  be  smoul- 
dering now  in  the  breast  of  an  unknown  genius  of  war, 


182  HAWAIIAN  ISLANDS 

who  and  where  we  do  not  know.  We  may  have  to  meet 
the  brunt  of  a  blow  from  the  sea,  when  we  do  not  know. 
"No  nation  has  placed  such  tempting  prizes  of  rich  cities 
by  the  sea  as  we  have,  and  left  them  unprotected.  Let 
any  ambitious  naval  nation  once  get  possession  of  our 
chief  seaboard  cities,  and  they  would  sap  our  resources  and 
throttle  our  enterprises.  No  hamlet  of  our  inland  country 
is  so  remote  as  not  to  suffer  from  such  a  calamity.  Let  no 
one  in  this  broad  land  say,  "  This  question  does  not  affect 
me ;  I  am  not  on  the  seaboard."  The  inland  parts  of  our 
country  have  an  interest  in  the  question  hardly  second  to 
that  of  the  seaboard.  The  whole  country  has  a  common 
interest  in  this  question,  and  all  should  look  at  it  broadly, 
with  a  view  to  probable  coming  events  in  this  rapidly  mov- 
ing age. 

When  Cato  declared  to  the  Romans,  with  repeated  and 
increasing  emphasis,  "  Delendo  est  Carthago !  "  it  fired  the 
Roman  heart,  and  the  motto  and  war-cry  of  the  army  be- 
came, "  Carthage  must  be  destroyed !  "  and  Carthage  was 
destroyed  and  its  very  foundations  dug  up.  Carthage  was 
across  the  sea,  more  remote  from  Rome  than  many  of 
our  cities  are  from  powerful  seafaring  nations,  when  we 
take  into  account  the  improved  methods  of  modern  navi- 
gation. How  long  shall  we  hold  out  these  tempting,  un- 
protected prizes  of  rich  cities  by  the  sea,  inviting  the  am- 
bition and  cupidity  of  naval  powers?  Some  progress  has 
been  made  within  the  last  ten  years  in  meeting  this 
condition  of  things,  but  it  has  been  painfully  slow,  espe- 
cially in  the  matter  of  coast  defences  on  the  land.  There 
are  already  too  many  powerful  naval  stations  near  our 
Atlantic  Coast  for  our  comfort.  We  should  not  repeat  the 
folly  on  the  Pacific  Coast  that  we  have  been  guilty  of  com- 
mitting on  the  Atlantic  Coast,  of  neglecting  an  oppor- 


HAWAIIAN  ISLANDS  183 

tunity  to  secure,  in  the  most  substantial  manner,  important 
commercial  advantages  and  a  valuable  naval  station  on 
that  coast.  Our  interests  on  the  Pacific  Coast  will  be  much 
better  conserved  by  our  annexing  all  the  islands  than  it 
possibly  can  be  by  a  concession  for  a  naval  station  on  one 
of  the  islands. 

An  objection  has  been  urged  to  the  annexation  of  the 
islands  that  somehow  it  is  an  invasion  of  the  rights  of  the 
lately  deposed  reigning  family  and  a  wrong  to  them.  The 
appeal  for  the  rights  of  a  reigning  family  to  rule  a  nation 
does  not  have  much  force  with  an  American.  The  in- 
herent and  divine  right  to  rule  by  any  sovereign  is  denied 
by  us.  The  right  to  be  ruled  by  a  sovereign,  if  desired 
by  the  people  of  any  nation,  we  recognize.  When  the 
people  throw  off  the  rule  of  a  sovereign,  it  accords  with  our 
ideas  of  the  people's  rights.  If  a  sovereign  is  deposed, 
he  is,  like  other  human  beings,  unfortunate,  from  his 
standpoint,  in  losing  something  he  could  not  hold,  but 
that  something  was  a  thing  he  had  no  inherent  right  to 
hold. 

When  a  people  find  it  for  their  interest  to  throw  off  the 
incubus  of  a  sovereign  rule,  to  an  American  they  are 
simply  asserting  a  right  inherent  in  the  people  to  rule 
themselves,  and  dislodging  an  unnatural  and  unjust  claim 
of  an  individual. 

An  objection  has  been  urged  to  the  character  of  the 
population  upon  the  islands  as  not  a  desirable  population 
to  be  incorporated  into  the  body  politic.  There  is  not 
much  force  in  this  objection.  While  it  may  be  true  that 
the  population  is  such  that  it  is  not  desirable  to  confer 
upon  it  the  elective  franchise,  or  to  give  the  islands  a 
voice  in  our  national  government;  yet  it  is  a  fact  that  dur- 
ing our  entire  political  history  we  have  had  abundant  ex- 


184  HAWAIIAN  ISLANDS 

perience  in  the  matter  of  government  for  people  not  repre- 
sented in  the  general  government. 

The  District  of  Columbia  and  the  numerous  territorial 
governments  that  we  have  had  from  time  to  time  are  illus- 
trations of  the  flexibility  and  adaptability  of  our  system 
of  government  to  the  exigencies  and  facts  of  any  case. 
It  will  be  easy  to  frame  a  government  adapted  to  the  best 
interests  of  the  islands,  if  they  are  annexed,  and  time  and 
experience  will  develop  the  form  of  government  best 
adapted  to  their  wants. 

A  further  objection  has  been  made  to  the  acquisition  of 
the  islands  that  there  are  certain  private  interests  to  be 
conserved  by  the  annexation,  and  especially  that  the  sugar 
interest  will  be  promoted  by  reason  of  the  present  laws 
providing  a  bounty  on  that  product.  If  we  assume  that 
the  motives  of  some  of  the  promoters  of  the  revolution  are 
not  altogether  disinterested,  and  that  there  are  some  pri- 
vate interests  that  they  hope  to  conserve,  the  objections  on 
this  score  are  worthy  of  but  little  consideration,  for  the 
reason  that  the  whole  matter  will  be  a  subject  of  regulation 
by  Congress  at  some  future  time,  if  the  provisions  of  the 
treaty  of  annexation  have  not  already  sufficiently  guarded 
this  point. 

There  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that  the  interests  of  the 
people  of  the  islands  will  be  greatly  promoted  by  annexa- 
tion to  the  United  States,  and  there  seems  to  be  no  reason- 
able doubt  that  in  future  years  the  interests  of  the  United 
States  will  be  greatly  promoted  by  the  annexation  of  the 
islands. 

Therefore,  Resolved,  That  the  Union  League  Club  ap- 
proves of  the  annexation  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  and 
earnestly  recommends  the  ratification  of  the  pending 


HAWAIIAN  ISLANDS  185 

treaty  between  the  commissioners  of  the  provisional  gov- 
ernment of  these  islands  and  the  United  States. 

Resolved,  That  it  recommends  to  each  senator  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  that  he  use  all  honorable 
means  to  procure  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  as  a  measure 
of  great  and  lasting  benefit  to  this  country. 

New  York,  February  28,  1893. 


ELECTIONS  OF  1893 

Important  elections  are  about  to  be  held  in  this  and 
other  States  of  the  Union.  The  Democratic  party  is  about 
to  ask  for  an  endorsement  by  the  people  at  the  polls. 
Every  election  in  some  measure  reflects  the  sentiments 
of  the  public  as  to  the  party  in  power  in  national  and 
State  affairs.  The  present  crisis  in  our  affairs  makes  a 
proper  occasion  for  the  presentation  of  practical  sugges- 
tions for  the  consideration  of  the  public. 

These  are  not  times  when  individuals,  as  statesmen  or 
leaders  in  parties,  need  be  seriously  considered.  We  do 
not  underestimate  the  importance  of  able  statesmen  or 
brilliant  leaders  on  either  side  in  the  two  great  parties. 
The  individuality  of  any  person,  however,  plays  a  minor 
part  in  the  great  controversy,  except  as  it  may  contribute 
to  the  triumph  of  the  principles  and  policy  of  one  party  or 
the  other.  A  great  leader  may  lead  a  great  party  to  suc- 
cess; but  while  success  may  redound  to  his  glory,  the  de- 
sirability of  that  success  will  depend  entirely  upon  the 
party  behind  him.  The  trend  of  the  principles  of  the  party 
will  finally  be  felt  by  the  country.  Good  will  not  come  to 
this  country  from  the  triumph  of  a  party  whose  principles 
always  lead  to  disaster. 

It  has  sometimes  been  said  by  the  friends  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party  that  it  has  a  "  genius  for  government."  The 
facts  of  history  would  seem  to  establish  that,  on  the  con- 
trary, it  has  a  genius  for  misgovernment.  Democrats  love 
to  refer  to  some  of  the  fathers  of  the  republic  as  the 


ELECTIONS  OF  1893  187 

founders  of  their  party,  and  point  to  that  fact  as  evidence 
of  their  respectability  and  ability  to  govern.  It  is  im- 
possible to  match  the  principles  of  the  fathers  referred  to 
with  the  principles  and  policy  of  the  Democratic  party  of 
the  last  sixty  years.  All  will  agree  that  the  Democratic 
party  governed  the  country  for  twelve  years  under  Jack- 
son and  Van  Buren,  from  1829  to  1841.  At  the  end  of 
this  era  of  government  by  Democratic  genius,  the  country 
was  brought  to  a  most  deplorable  state  of  distress.  In  the 
midst  of  this  distress  the  country  voted  to  turn  the  party 
out  of  power  at  the  general  election  of  1840.  From  1840 
to  1852,  the  succeeding  twelve  years,  the  country  voted 
alternately  for  the  Democratic  and  Whig  parties,  and  the 
country  had  a  mixed  policy  and  a  mixed  prosperity.  From 
1853  to  1861  the  country  had  another  long  era  of  control 
'by  the  Democratic  party.  The  result  of  that  term  of 
power  on  the  part  of  this  party  is  known  by  all.  The 
financial  distress  of  1857  was  one  of  the  events  pertain- 
ing to  it.  The  end  of  Buchanan's  administration  was 
financial  distress,  a  bankrupt  treasury,  and  a  threatened 
civil  rebellion.  Such  was  the  condition  of  the  country 
after  eight  years  continuous  Democratic  control  that  the 
people  again  turned  them  out  of  power.  While  out  of 
power  the  party  opposed  almost  every  important  measure. 
It  embarrassed  the  government  while  putting  down  the 
Rebellion;  it  opposed  the  constitutional  amendments,  the 
resumption  of  specie  payments,  and  many  other  most 
salutary  measures.  Not  until  1893,  thirty-two  years  after 
the  Democratic  party  went  out  of  power,  was  it  again  in- 
trusted with  full  power  in  the  federal  government. 

The  first  term  of  President  Cleveland  was  not  a  period 
of  Democratic  control,  because  that  party  did  not  control 
both  branches  of  Congress  and  could  not  impress  its  policy 


188  ELECTIONS  OP  1893 

on  the  country.  That  term  was  spent  in  administering 
laws  then  on  the  statute  books,  placed  there  by  the  Kepub- 
lican  party.  At  the  time  of  the  last  change  of  parties  the 
country  was  on  the  high  tide  of  prosperity.  Its  condition 
was  unlike  the  conditions  that  prevailed  when  the  changes 
of  1840  and  1860  were  made.  Then,  in  each  case,  the 
country  was  in  the  throes  of  agony  from  Democratic  mis- 
rule. This  time  the  change  was  made  by  a  new  genera- 
tion who  had  had  no  experience  of  the  evil  tendencies  of 
Democratic  government.  They  seemed  to  look  upon  a 
change  of  party  in  the  government  as  a  gala-day  frolic,  a 
mere  holiday  outing,  utterly  oblivious  of  the  tremendous 
consequences  to  flow  from  such  a  mad  frolic.  Warnings 
and  arguments  produced  no  effect.  The  Democratic  party 
was  placed  in  power  by  an  overwhelming  vote. 

This  party  seems  to  have  a  strange  affinity  for  all  the 
odds  and  ends  of  political  principles  that  spring  up  in  vari- 
ous parts  of  the  country.  We  have  seen  the  Democratic 
governor  of  a  sister  State  pardon  anarchists  who  had  been 
convicted  of  a  foul  crime  against  society,  and  the  judge 
and  jury  who  tried  them  denounced  by  this  governor  in  a 
most  shameful  manner,  as  if  the  judge  and  jury  were  the 
real  criminals.  While  this  party  does  not  formally  adopt 
all  these  strange  doctrines,  yet  the  presence  of  these  frag- 
mentary parties  in  the  Democratic  camp  increases  the 
hosts  of  its  voters  at  the  polls.  This  does  not  make  a  har- 
monious party  with  which  to  carry  on  the  government,  as 
is  well  illustrated  by  the  present  position  of  affairs  in 
Washington. 

The  immediate  question  of  the  greatest  importance 
to  the  country  is  the  repeal  of  the  so-called  Sherman 
Bill.  This  law  was  placed  on  the  statute  books  to  re- 
lieve the  country  from  the  evils  of  the  Bland  Silver  Bill, 


ELECTIONS  OF  1893  189 

which  was  threatening  to  engulf  the  country  in  financial 
ruin. 

Whether  the  Sherman  law  was  a  wise  or  unwise  act  at 
the  time  may  be  a  debatable  question.  It  was  thought 
that  it  would  arrest  the  continued  coinage  of  silver,  and 
so,  in  a  measure,  meet  the  evils  of  the  Bland  Bill.  Experi- 
ence, however,  has  shown  that  the  necessities  of  the  coun- 
try require  its  repeal.  The  President,  in  response  to  the 
demands  of  the  business  interests  of  the  country,  called 
Congress  in  extra  session  to  consider  this  one  question. 
Both  branches  of  Congress  being  Democratic,  harmony 
would  ordinarily  be  expected  to  exist  in  the  legislative  and 
executive  branches  of  the  government;  and  yet  what  a 
strange  spectacle  is  presented ! 

The  first  measure  of  this  administration  is  without  hope 
of  being  passed,  except  with  the  support  of  Kepublicans. 
This  administration,  at  its  very  outset,  is  powerless  to 
carry  this  measure  with  the  votes  of  its  own  party.  The 
Republicans  must  stand  by  the  administration  or  it  fails. 
To-day,  the  sole  hope  of  the  country  is  in  the  steady  pa- 
triotism of  the  Republican  minority  in  Congress. 

While  the  present  depression  is  undoubtedly  to  some  ex- 
tent due  to  the  policy  of  purchasing  silver  on  behalf  of  the 
government,  another  factor  of  almost  equal  importance, 
and,  in  the  opinion  of  many,  of  greater  importance,  is  the 
threatened  changes  in  the  tariff  law. 

What  the  Democratic  party  has  been  unable  to  do  on  the 
silver  question,  and  what  it  threatens  to  do  with  reference 
to  the  tariff,  has  brought  the  country  to  its  present  condi- 
tion, and  is  a  good  illustration  of  the  effect  of  Democratic 
control  upon  the  country.  It  is  in  harmony  with  its  his- 
tory when  in  power,  and  coincides  with  the  results  which 
usually  flow  from  its  advent  to  power.  It  does  not  seem 


190  ELECTIONS  OF  1893 

a  harsh  or  unjust  conclusion,  after  three  trials  of  Demo- 
cratic control  within  a  period  of  sixty  years,  to  hold  that 
the  Democratic  party  lacks  the  capacity  to  govern  the 
country  well,  or  that  their  principles  of  government  are 
such  as  to  lead  to  inevitable  disaster. 

In  our  annual  report,  made  to  this  club  in  January  last, 
we  took  occasion  to  say,  referring  to  the  tariff  policy  ad- 
vocated by  Republicans : 

"  The  record  and  history  of  this  club  have  been  one  of 
unfaltering  support  of  this  important  and  beneficent  na- 
tional policy.  No  believer  in  this  policy  can  have  his  be- 
lief in  the  same  shaken  by  the  temporary  defeat  which  we 
have  sustained.  The  history  of  the  country  shows  that 
prosperity  has  always  attended  it  when  its  fiscal  policy  has 
been  framed  on  the  lines  of  protection,  and  depression  and 
distress  have  followed  when  its  fiscal  policy  has  been 
framed  on  the  lines  of  low  tariff  or  free  trade.  Thirty 
years  of  unparalleled  prosperity  is  the  record  made  by  the 
Republican  policy.  During  that  time  a  new  generation 
has  grown  up  who  have  seen  fit  to  be  guided  by  theorists 
rather  than  to  follow  the  sure  lamp  of  experience.  Those 
now  living  who  have  had  experience  of  Democratic  ad- 
ministration of  governmental  financial  policy  are  compara- 
tively few.  If  the  Democratic  party  applies  to  our  fiscal 
policy  the  principles  it  professes,  this  new  generation 
will  soon  have  the  experience  that  will  enable  it  also  to 
appreciate  the  wide  difference  between  Democratic  and 
Republican  doctrine  on  the  tariff.  Assuming  that  the 
Democrats  in  good  faith  apply  the  principles  that  they 
taught,  we  may  confidently  look  forward  to  a  renewal  of 
the  great  discussion,  when  we  will  have  not  only  our  his- 
tory, but  the  then  present  experience,  to  illustrate  and  en- 


ELECTIONS  OF  1893  191 

force  the  wisdom  of  protection  to  American  industries  as 
the  true  American  policy." 

We  do  not  at  this  time  propose  to  discuss  the  tariff  prin- 
ciples of  the  Democratic  party.  This  club,  during  years 
that  have  passed,  has  contributed  its  full  share  to  that  dis- 
cussion. We  do  not  abate  one  jot  or  tittle  from  what  we 
have  heretofore  said  on  that  all-important  question.  We 
are  now  in  the  presence  of  a  proposed  practical  applica- 
tion of  the  principle  of  our  opponents,  and  the  first  effects 
are  upon  us — manufactories  seriously  checked,  business 
prostrated,  laborers  either  unemployed  or  employed  at  re- 
duced wages.  Such  are  some  of  the  effects  that  attend  the 
resumption  of  power  by  the  Democratic  party.  While  the 
country  is  suffering  for  want  of  legislation  to  give  life  to 
its  business  and  industrial  interests,  that  party,  true  to 
its  instincts,  seems  more  intent  to  break  down  the  safe- 
guards around  the  ballot-boxes,  for  party  ends,  than  it  is  to 
promote  the  interests  of  business  men  and  laborers.  If 
the  federal  election  law  needs  amending  in  the  direction 
of  guarding  more  carefully  the  ballot-box,  that  might 
justify  taking  action  at  this  time  on  that  question;  but 
such  a  course  is  not  good  Democratic  policy. 

If  we  turn  to  the  State  we  find  the  same  party  with  a 
"  genius  for  government "  in  power  in  the  State  and 
municipal  governments;  and  what  a  spectacle — a  ma- 
chine government  where  about  six  men  direct  the  affairs 
of  the  State !  A  Democratic  State  Convention  to  nominate 
officers  is  a  farce.  Manhood  and  deliberation  in  selecting 
candidates  for  offices  have  no  place  in  their  party  councils. 

We  have  witnessed  the  will  of  the  people,  declared 
through  the  ballot-box,  defeated  by  the  great  steal  of  the 
senate  of  this  State.  This  political  crime  was  planned  by 


192  ELECTIONS  OF  1893 

the  then  governor  and  carried  out  by  the  assistance  of 
many  high  officials  in  the  Democratic  State  government. 
The  law  of  the  case,  as  decided  by  the  courts,  was  defied 
and  disregarded.  The  very  citadel  of  free  government 
was  surrendered  and  degraded  by  those  who  should  have 
been  its  stoutest  defenders.  A  sufficient  time  has  elapsed 
for  party  passions  to  have  subsided,  and  intelligent  citizens 
ought  to  look  at  the  great  steal  in  its  true  light,  as  a  colossal 
crime  against  free  government.  We  have  witnessed  the 
non-partisan  character  of  the  Police  Board  of  this  city 
changed  to  a  Democratic  partisan  board.  The  legislature, 
installed  in  power  by  fraud,  has  made  the  Boards  of  In- 
spectors of  Elections  in  the  city  of  New  York  Democratic 
by  reducing  the  number  from  four  to  three.  These  are 
appointed  by  a  Democratic  Police  Board,  and  two  are  al- 
ways, by  law,  Democrats,  and  only  one  can  be  a  Eepubli- 
can;  whereas,  before,  two  were  required  to  belong  to  each 
party.  We  have  seen  this  same  legislature  change  the 
charter  of  the  city  of  Buffalo  so  as  to  give  the  control  of 
the  city  to  partisan  bosses. 

The  chief  purpose  of  the  leaders  of  the  party  seems  to 
be  to  break  down  all  the  safeguards  around  the  ballot- 
box  as  a  means  of  perpetuating  their  power.  The  most 
barefaced  frauds  have  been  practised  for  years  by  that 
party  in  the  illegal  naturalization  of  foreigners.  It  seems 
to  have  lost  all  sense  of  the  dignity  and  importance  of 
American  citizenship.  It  wages  constant  warfare  upon  the 
very  foundation  of  free  government  by  degrading  the 
elective  franchise  and  defeating  its  results. 

We  have  seen  the  State  gerrymandered  for  party  pur- 
poses; and,  in  some  cases,  so  outrageously  done  as  to  call 
for  the  interposition  of  the  courts  to  correct  the  evil.  We 
have  seen  State  taxes  increased  without  corresponding 


ELECTIONS  OF  1893  193 

benefits  to  the  people.  In  municipal  governments  a  few 
bosses  dictate  everything.  Men  who  a  few  years  ago  were 
without  visible  means  of  support,  and  who  have  since  ap- 
parently had  only  politics  to  do  with,  are  now  rolling  in 
wealth.  A  thoughtful,  self-respecting  people  should  ask 
themselves  how  can  these  things  be?  The  party  in  this 
State  allies  itself  with  every  interest  that  is  antagonistic 
to  good  morals  and  good  government.  It  draws  its  suste- 
nance largely  from  such  sources.  If  the  present  condi- 
tion of  things  is  to  go  on,  then  virile  patriotism  and  Ameri- 
can institutions  are  in  a  process  of  decay. 

There  is  one  sovereign  remedy  for  this  state  of  things 
in  the  nation  and  in  the  State — stalwart  manhood  at  the 
ballot-box.  If  those  who  voted  for  a  change  last  fall  just 
to  have  a  "  change  "  are  still  satisfied,  then  they  should 
vote  to  continue  the  Democratic  party  in  power.  If  those 
who  have  voted  with  the  Democratic  party  for  State  and 
municipal  officers  are  satisfied,  they,  too,  should  continue  to 
vote  as  they  have.  A  change  of  men  of  the  same  party  will 
do  no  substantial  good.  Experience  has  demonstrated  this. 
It  is  the  trend  of  the  party  and  the  application  of  its  prin- 
ciples that  does  the  mischief.  No  man  is  strong  enough 
to  resist  successfully  the  force  of  his  party.  Parties  are 
like  great  armies,  all  marching  in  the  one  direction.  Indi- 
viduals in  the  parties  may  be  better  or  worse  in  particular 
cases,  but  all  march  together  in  the  same  direction.  The 
number  of  persons  who  hold  office  as  compared  with  the 
great  body  of  the  citizens  is  small,  and  it  is  not  very  mate- 
rial who  the  individuals  are  who  hold  them,  so  far  as  the 
emoluments  go ;  but  all  are  equally  interested  in  good  gov- 
ernment and  its  results.  It  is  this  latter  consideration  that 
makes  it  so  vitally  important  that  the  voter  should  study 
the  policy  and  trend  of  a  great  party.  Political  theories 
13 


194  ELECTIONS  OF  1893 

are  well  to  discuss,  but  they  must  all  be  brought  to  the 
final  test  of  experience.  Those  whose  business  and  wages 
have  already  suffered  enough  to  teach  the  true  inwardness 
of  Democratic  government  we  can  advise  to  vote  that 
party  out  of  every  place  of  power  within  the  reach  of 
their  ballots.  The  defeat  of  that  party  in  any  contest  will 
be  salutary.  It  will  dislodge  the  representatives  of  the 
party  from  places  of  power,  as  preliminary  to  the  great 
contest  to  wrest  power  from  the  party  in  Washington, 
which  will  come  later.  Another  most  important  effect  of 
voting  against  the  Democratic  party  will  be  the  influence 
it  will  have  in  Washington.  Even  a  congressman  is  sensi- 
tive to  public  sentiment,  and  if  he  finds  that  the  people 
have  learned  something  what  the  "  change  "  means,  he 
will  be  likely  to  moderate  his  zeal  in  applying  the  declara- 
tions of  the  Chicago  platform  so  as  to  further  depress  the 
industries  of  the  country  and  lower  the  wages  of  the 
laboring  men. 

Every  citizen  authorized  to  cast  a  ballot  ought  to  have 
an  opinion  as  to  the  wisdom  of  Democratic  government 
and  express  it  at  the  ballot-box.  If  he  is  sure  the  change 
is  for  the  good  of  the  country,  let  him  vote  accordingly. 
If,  however,  it  has  dawned  upon  him  that  the  change  in 
parties  to  control  the  affairs  of  the  government  was  a  mis- 
take, he  can  begin  the  work  of  rectifying  the  error  of  last 
fall  by  voting  against  the  representatives  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party  this  fall. 

Resolved,  That  this  club  declares  its  adherence  to  the 
principles  and  policy  of  the  Republican  party  as  best  con- 
ducive to  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  all  classes  of 
citizens. 

Resolved,  That  the  policy  of  the  Democratic  party  leads 


ELECTIONS  OF  1893  195 

to  the  prostration  of  business  and  industrial  interests  and 
the  lowering  of  the  wages  of  the  laboring  men,  with  all 
their  attendant  evils. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  intelligent  American 
citizens  to  wrest  political  power  from  this  party  by  voting 
against  its  candidates  for  office,  and  all  Republicans  should 
be  diligent  in  using  every  honorable  means  to  secure  the 
defeat  of  the  Democratic  party  at  the  polls. 

Resolved,  That  the  nomination  by  the  Democratic  party 
of  Isaac  H.  Maynard  as  a  candidate  for  the  Court  of  Ap- 
peals shocks  the  moral  sense  of  the  people  of  this  State. 
It  is  a  bold  attempt  to  secure  approval  of  the  great  crime 
against  the  elective  franchise,  and  should  be  resented  by 
all  intelligent  citizens. 

Resolved,  That  this  club  approves  the  platform  of  prin- 
ciples adopted  at  the  Syracuse  Convention  and  heartily 
endorses  the  candidates  nominated  by  that  convention. 

New  York,  October  Y,  1893. 


At  a  meeting  of  this  club  held  on  the  9th  day  of  Novem- 
ber last,  Mr.  Charles  Stewart  Smith  presented  to  the  club 
the  following  resolution,  which  was  unanimously  adopted : 

Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Political  Reform  be 
requested  to  report  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  club  whether 
or  not,  in  the  judgment  of  the  committee,  it  is  desirable 
for  this  club  to  lead  any  movement  by  which  an  attempt 
shall  be  made  to  unite  all  good  men,  without  reference  to 
political  affiliations,  in  the  one  issue  of  good  government 
for  this  city;  and,  if  so,  to  formulate  a  plan  therefor. 

This  resolution  was  presented  without  the  previous 
knowledge  or  concurrence  of  your  committee,  and  the 
movement,  therefore,  does  not  originate  with  the  commit- 
tee. Your  committee  has  approached  the  consideration 
of  the  subject,  oppressed  with  its  magnitude  and  impor- 
tance. The  task  of  reforming  our  municipal  government 
is  herculean,  and  requires  the  best  wisdom  and  the  best 
abilities  of  the  best  citizens  of  the  city.  Municipal  govern- 
ment in  all  the  large  cities  in  this  Union  has  generally 
been  perverted  for  plunder. 

The  fathers  of  the  republic  founded  a  system  of  free 
government.  The  ideal  that  they  projected  was  simply 
perfect  for  self-government  by  the  people  and  for  the 
people ;  yet,  strangely  enough,  the  system  has  been  a  dis- 
mal failure  in  municipal  affairs.  Many  attempts  have 


MUNICIPAL  REFORM  197 

been  made  to  rectify  the  evil  and  to  lead  the  people  out  of 
the  clutches  of  the  plunderers  who  have  seized  and  hold 
municipal  governments  for  their  private  gain.  Many  men 
have  been  led  to  give  up  in  despair  and  say  that  the 
American  system,  as  applied  to  cities,  is  a  failure.  They 
have  often  declared  that  the  evil  is  of  such  a  nature  that 
it  cannot  be  eradicated.  In  all  other  respects  the  Ameri- 
can system  has  worked  reasonably  well,  and  with  as  little 
friction  and  as  little  fraud  as  pertain  to  any  system,  taking 
human  nature  as  it  is. 

The  questions  presented  are :  "Is  the  foul  blot  of  munici- 
pal fraud  and  municipal  bad  government  so  deeply  seated 
that  it  must  remain  forever?  Is  it  beyond  the  reach  of 
intelligence,  virtue,  and  integrity  ?  "  If  so,  this  cancerous 
growth  upon  the  body  politic  will  ultimately  and  surely 
undermine  the  whole  system  of  government. 

We  are  not  among  those  who  believe  the  evil,  gigantic 
as  it  is,  beyond  cure.  The  evil  manifests  itself  in  different 
forms  in  different  cities,  but  in  its  results  it  has  generally 
been  disastrous  in  every  city.  The  difficulty  does  not  per- 
tain exclusively  to  either  of  the  great  parties  known  as 
the  Republican  and  Democratic  parties.  Whichever  party 
is  in  control  of  a  city  is  almost  sure,  sooner  or  later,  in 
one  form  or  another,  to  develop  the  same  evil.  In  this 
city  it  so  happens  that,  the  Democratic  party  being  in 
control,  the  evil  manifests  itself  more  clearly  in  that 
party. 

The  scope  of  the  resolution  and  the  purpose  of  this  re- 
port are  to  deal  with  the  evil  in  the  city  of  New  York. 
It  is  useless  and  unnecessary  to  portray  all  the  evils  of 
our  city  government.  They  are  known  by  all  intelligent 
citizens.  The  press  and  the  pulpit  have  declaimed  against 
them  with  a  vigor  and  persistency  that  are  entitled  to  all 


198  MUNICIPAL  REFORM 

commendation ;  and  yet,  somehow,  the  condition  of  things 
does  not  improve. 

The  chief  head  and  front  of  the  offender  are  found  in 
a  benevolent  organization  known  as  the  "  Tammany  So- 
ciety " — an  organization,  in  its  inception,  never  intended 
for  the  purpose  to  which  it  has  been  debased.  It  now  as- 
sumes to  itself  the  functions  of  guiding  and  organizing 
the  political  movements  of  the  Democratic  party  in  this 
city.  Justly  considered,  in  its  action  it  performs  none 
of  the  functions  of  a  political  party.  Its  methods  are  not 
democratic,  but  autocratic.  Its  results  are  plunder,  fraud, 
and  the  debasement  of  the  American  system  of  govern- 
ment. It  is  simply  and  only,  so  far  as  its  managers  are 
concerned,  a  business  corporation  or  combination  of  indi- 
viduals for  private  gain  and  public  plunder.  It  has  seized 
upon  all  the  offices  of  the  city,  and  controls,  through 
legal  machinery,  the  magnificent  annual  resources  of  the 
city,  amounting  to  about  $34,000,000.  It  also  derives  an 
enormous  revenue  from  its  system  of  assessments  upon 
officers  and  employees  of  the  city,  from  the  highest  to  the 
lowest.  It  is  hard  to  account  for  the  sudden  and  enormous 
wealth  of  many  of  the  managers  of  that  organization  upon 
any  other  theory  than  that  there  is  in  vogue  a  relentless 
system  of  plundering  the  city,  the  citizens,  and  the  em- 
ployees of  the  government. 

To  administer  the  trust  of  disposing  of  revenues  amount- 
ing to  about  $34,000,000  requires  the  agency  of  the  high- 
est order  of  talent  and  integrity.  The  charge  is  not  that 
all  of  this  money  is  misappropriated.  The  gravamen  of  the 
charge  is  that  some  of  it  is  misapplied.  It  is  in  vain  for 
Tammany  magnates  to  point  out  the  good  work  they  do. 
Tweed  and  his  fellow-conspirators  could  justly  do  the  same 
thing.  The  demands  of  good  government  are  that  all, 


MUNICIPAL  REFORM  199 

not  a  part,  of  the  public  money  shall  be  properly  appro- 
priated with  the  same  integrity  with  which  well-conducted 
private  enterprises  are  carried  on. 

The  Tammany  Society  aids  and  abets  the  most  gigantic 
frauds  upon  the  ballot-box,  and  finds  in  these  frauds  its 
buttress  and  bulwark.  Wherever  vice  is  reeking  and 
ignorance  prevails,  there  is  found  the  chief  support  of  the 
organization.  In  proportion  as  vice,  crime,  and  ignorance 
prevail  in  the  vilest  and  most  degraded  portion  of  our 
city,  in  the  same  proportion  does  the  strength  of  Tammany 
increase.  Without  this  support  it  cannot  exist. 

One  of  its  methods  of  holding  power  consists  in  cun- 
ningly devised  schemes  to  keep  separate  and  apart  honest 
citizens,  so  that  at  each  succeeding  election  it  can  come  in 
with  its  hordes  of  ignorance  and  corruption,  and  capture 
the  control  of  the  city.  It  has  found  not  a  few  in  the  Re- 
publican party  who  have  been  willing  to  either  run  or  not 
run  for  office,  or  to  deliver  or  not  deliver  votes,  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  promoting  the  success  of  this  band  of 
plunderers. 

The  game  of  politics  has  been  so  played  by  the  con- 
spirators and  enemies  of  good  and  honest  government  as 
to  keep  absolute  control  of  the  city  government.  We  can 
well  believe  that,  as  they  have  played  their  game,  they 
have  exulted  with  glee  at  the  thought  that  honest  citizens 
and  lovers  of  good  government  have  gone  helplessly  and 
almost  foolishly  to  the  polls,  year  after  year,  nullifying  one 
another's  votes  by  voting  a  ticket  labelled  either  Repub- 
lican or  Democratic,  while  they,  in  the  background,  with 
their  forces  of  ignorance,  vice,  and  corruption,  have  cun- 
ningly kept  their  hold  upon  the  city. 

It  is  time  to  throw  off  this  disgraceful  burden.  No  man 
of  intelligence  who  has  given  the  subject  the  slightest 


200  MUNICIPAL  REFORM 

thought  has  ever  doubted  that  the  vast  majority  of  the 
electors  of  this  city  are  honest  and  desire  a  clean,  able, 
and  honest  government,  and  that  they  have  the  power,  if 
they  will  exercise  it,  to  produce  this  result. 

One  of  the  favorite  arguments  that  has  been  urged  and 
repeated  time  and  again  in  both  parties  has  been  that  it 
is  necessary  for  the  good  of  a  party  to  keep  the  same 
party  organization  in  city  matters;  that  to  abandon  the 
national  and  State  party  organization  in  city  matters  for 
the  sake  of  the  city  and  support  a  reform  city  ticket  would 
demoralize  the  respective  parties  on  national  and  State 
issues.  We  think  this  is  entirely  fallacious  and  will  not 
bear  examination.  Neither  the  Republican  nor  the  Demo- 
cratic party  by  itself,  as  a  national  or  a  State  party,  exists 
or  can  live  one  minute  for  the  benefit  of  the  city  of 
New  York.  National  questions  and  State  questions  are  in 
no  way  related  to  or  dependent  upon  the  character  and 
integrity  of  the  city  government.  Men  may  justly  differ 
in  their  opinions  upon  the  tariff,  upon  currency,  upon 
banking,  upon  silver,  upon  interstate  commerce,  upon 
foreign  relations,  and  upon  a  multitude  of  questions  that 
pertain  to  the  national  parties,  and  may  unite  for  the  pur- 
pose of  a  good  city  government. 

It  is  not  easy  to  see  what  connection  there  is  between 
the  tariff,  the  silver  question,  and  the  affairs  of  the  navy 
and  other  kindred  subjects,  and  the  building  of  docks, 
opening  and  paving  of  streets,  extending  the  waterworks 
of  the  city,  putting  out  its  fires,  or  policing  the  city,  and  all 
other  matters  pertaining  to  the  government  of  the  cor- 
poration of  New  York.  We  see  no  reason  why  men  should 
surrender  their  personal  views  upon  national  and  State 
issues  because  they  cooperate  for  a  pure  city  government. 
In  fact,  the  city  of  New  York  is  not  a  nation  or  a  State, 


MUNICIPAL  REFORM  201 

but  it  is  in  reality  a  corporation  created  for  the  benefit  of 
the  citizens,  and  in  many  respects  like  other  corporations, 
although  on  a  larger  scale. 

It  is  well  known  that  all  these  organizations  are  con- 
trolled and  managed  by  men  of  different  political  views. 
In  selecting  these  men  the  question  is  never  asked  as  to 
their  views  on  the  tariff,  banking,  silver,  foreign  relations, 
or  any  other  question  pertaining  to  the  government  of 
the  nation,  or  as  to  any  questions  touching  the  govern- 
ment of  the  State.  They  cooperate  and  co-work  with  the 
perfect  understanding  that  they  have  diverse  political 
views  and  that  they  surrender  none  of  them  by  such  co- 
operation in  these  various  corporations. 

•  Even  in  business  co-partnerships  men  of  diverse  parties 
work  together  without  regard  to  their  affiliations  with 
either  party.  The  employees  of  these  institutions  are 
never  selected  because  of  their  connection  with  one  party 
or  the  other,  or  by  reason  of  their  efficiency  as  party  man- 
agers or  "  heelers."  The  sole  and  only  question  is  and 
should  be,  "  Are  they  competent  and  qualified  to  fill  and 
discharge  the  duties  of  the  position  in  the  corporation  that 
employs  them  ?  "  It  would  be  looked  upon  as  an  outrage 
if  the  officers  and  managers  of  these  corporations  were  to 
annually  and  regularly  assess  the  employees,  from  the 
highest  to  the  lowest,  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the 
prosperity  of  a  political  party.  The  corporation  of  the 
city  of  New  York,  as  a  business  corporation,  should  be 
run  and  managed  upon  the  same  principles  that  any  other 
well-managed  corporation  is  conducted. 

In  cooperating  as  we  have  indicated,  it  should  be  dis- 
tinctly understood  that  no  man  surrenders  or  abates  in 
any  way  or  manner  his  affiliations  with  the  political  party 
of  his  choice;  that  upon  national  and  State  issues  every 


202  MUNICIPAL  REFORM 

citizen  may  take  his  position  under  and  align  himself  with 
the  party  of  his  choice,  and  his  reasons  for  doing  so  or  his 
activity  in  that  party  should  not  be  subjects  of  question 
within  the  domain  of  a  reform  party  for  city  government. 
If  such  a  result  can  be  obtained  it  will  tend  to  purify  both 
parties.  It  will  remove  the  foul  stain  of  corrupt  municipal 
government  from  American  institutions,  and  will  demon- 
strate the  wisdom  of  our  fathers  in  establishing  the  basis 
of  our  government  as  they  did.  It  will  no  longer  be  said 
that  in  all  other  respects  the  system  was  rightly  conceived 
and  properly  adapted,  but  that  it  is  not  adapted  to  munici- 
pal government.  The  occupation  of  men  who  follow  poli- 
tics for  a  business  will  be  gone. 

The  recent  elections  are  full  of  hope  and  promise.  It 
has  been  demonstrated  that,  when  honest  citizens  unite, 
the  powers  of  corruption  and  fraud  can  be  driven  from 
high  places.  With  unity  and  vigorous  action  the  task  will 
be  an  easy  and  successful  one.  Both  parties,  as  national 
and  State  parties,  will  remain  in  the  field,  contending  for 
the  principles  they  espouse,  and  will  succeed  or  fail  as 
they  shall  succeed  or  fail  in  impressing  their  respective 
views  upon  the  voters.  Activity  for  a  national  or  State 
party  in  any  legitimate  way  by  an  individual  should  be  a 
personal  privilege  unaffected  by  reason  of  such  person's 
affiliations  with  the  movement  we  suggest.  The  same  free- 
dom of  political  action  should  remain  to  each  individual 
as  now  remains  to  them  when  cooperating  for  business, 
benevolent,  or  social  purposes.  No  man  should  be  dis- 
qualified for  holding  office  in  this  city  because  he  is  active 
either  as  a  Democrat  or  as  a  Republican. 

Municipal  government  in  this  city  is  worthy  of  the  best 
efforts  of  its  citizens  to  rescue  it  from  the  spoilers  and 
plunderers.  The  questions  for  each  citizen  to  ask  himself 


MUNICIPAL  REFORM  203 

are :  "  Is  it  wise,  is  it  good  judgment,  to  leave  the  city 
government  a  football  in  the  political  contests  over  na- 
tional and  State  matters?  Should  I  hesitate  to  do  my 
duty  here,  for  fear  such  action  may  have  a  remote  in- 
fluence upon  these  other  issues  ? "  This  noble  city  is 
worthy  of  an  effort  to  purify  its  government.  By  such  an 
effort  good  government  for  the  nation  and  State  will  be 
promoted,  and  American  institutions  and  the  American 
system  of  government  will  be  purified  and  vindicated. 
Nothing  will  be  lost  to  the  nation  or  State,  and  every- 
thing will  be  gained  for  the  city. 

As  preliminary  and  necessary  conditions  for  securing 
a  reform  city  government,  a  change  should  be  made  in 
the  ballot  law,  by  having  a  just  and  fair  blanket  ballot. 
If  separate  municipal  elections  are  not  secured,  it  should 
provide  for  voting,  without  trouble  to  the  elector,  a  city 
ticket  unembarrassed  by  a  national  or  State  ticket.  Pro- 
vision should  be  made  to  exclude  congressmen,  State  sen- 
ators, and  assemblymen  from  the  city  ticket. 

The  non-partisan  character  of  the  Police  Board  should 
be  made  mandatory  by  law. 

The  non-partisan  character  of  the  Boards  of  Election 
Inspectors  should  be  reestablished. 

The  municipal  election  should  be  separated  from  the 
national  and  State  elections. 

The  power  to  make  appropriations  at  Albany  that  im- 
pose taxes  should  be  taken  away,  and  all  city  appropria- 
tions should  be  made  by  the  municipal  government.  Then 
the  voters  would  be  brought  face  to  face  with  the  men 
who  impose  unjust  taxes,  and  they  would  see  to  it  that  the 
character  of  the  men  they  vote  for  is  such  as  to  justify 
their  confidence. 

At  this  time  it  is  of  the  first  importance  that  the  hands 


204  MUNICIPAL  REFORM 

of  the  men  who  are  engaged  in  the  prosecution  of  offend- 
ers against  the  election  laws  should  be  sustained,  not  only 
by  the  moral  support  of  this  club,  but  by  its  material  aid. 
Nothing  would  tend  so  strongly  to  promote  reform  in  this 
city  as  the  punishment  of  these  old  and  habitual  offenders 
against  the  purity  of  the  ballot-box. 

The  plan  proposed  is  not  based  upon  the  idea  of  opposi- 
tion to  Tammany  alone.  Nothing  is  gained  by  ousting  the 
present  government  only  to  make  place  for  another  gang 
of  plunderers  and  spoilsmen.  This  club  will  not  know- 
ingly be  a  party  to  such  a  movement.  The  central  idea 
of  the  movement  should  be  good  and  honest  government 
in  the  interest  of  the  city,  its  taxpayers,  and  citizens. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  purpose  of  the  plan  out- 
lined by  your  committee  is  to  sever  absolutely,  and  as 
completely  as  possible,  State  and  national  issues  from  the 
vote  on  municipal  affairs.  For  this  reason  we  do  not 
recommend  cooperating  in  electing  senators  and  members 
of  the  assembly.  Their  functions  and  duties  lie  entirely 
outside  of  and  beyond  the  scope  of  the  purposes  of  this 
movement.  This  is  especially  and  notably  true  every  few 
years,  when  the  election  of  a  United  States  senator  is  pend- 
ing. We  are  not  unmindful  of  the  desirability  of  procur- 
ing a  better  class  of  representatives  for  the  city,  but  we 
recommend  that  these  offices  be  left  for  reform  by  such 
methods  as  the  representatives  of  parties  may  apply  within 
their  respective  parties.  For  the  same  reason  members 
of  Congress  should  be  excluded  from  the  scope  and  pur- 
pose of  the  proposed  cooperation.  Here,  also,  the  elector 
will  wish  to  express  his  preference  on  national  policy. 

The  plan  proposed  can  only  succeed  by  the  union  of  the 
vast  body  of  citizens  of  the  city,  irrespective  of  party 
affiliations.  Neither  can  it  succeed  without  the  powerful 


MUNICIPAL  REFORM  205 

support  of  the  independent  press  of  the  city,  whose  power 
to  arouse  public  sentiment  was  so  splendidly  illustrated  in 
the  late  election.  We  earnestly  bespeak  the  cooperation 
and  support  of  the  press  in  this  effort  to  sever  municipal 
government  from  national  and  State  issues. 

In  this  work  the  club  will  cooperate  with  any  existing 
organization,  or  any  that  may  be  formed,  for  the  purpose  of 
rescuing  the  city  from  the  hands  of  those  who  now  control 
its  destinies,  provided  it  can  be  done  on  a  truly  non-parti- 
san basis.  It  fully  appreciates  that  this  is  a  herculean 
task.  The  spoilers  have  fastened  their  fangs  upon  the 
city  and  will  not  be  dislodged  easily.  It  is  only  by  united, 
persistent,  and  organized  effort  that  there  can  be  any  hope 
of  success.  If  public  sentiment  can  be  properly  aroused, 
united,  and  marshalled,  the  triumph  will  be  easy.  No  one 
then  need  apologize  for  the  deplorable  state  of  things  in 
the  city,  but  all  who  unite  in  this  work  will  be  proud  of 
the  city  government  and  proud  that  they  have  taken  part 
in  the  great  reform. 

The  city  is  full  of  earnest,  honest  young  men  who  will 
be  glad  to  rally  to  the  standard  of  reform  and  take  part 
in  organizing  and  carrying  forward  the  work,  if  only  the 
hope  can  be  held  out  that  it  is  a  permanent  reform ;  that 
it  means  a  revolution  and  a  reversal  of  the  history  of  the 
government  of  the  city;  that  it  is  no  ephemeral  movement, 
but  a  reform  inaugurated  to  be  carried  on  until  the  war 
ends  and  victory  crowns  with  triumph.  Then  it  will  be  an 
honor  to  be  nominated  for  an  office  and  an  honor  to  hold 
and  fill  an  office.  Young  men  may  then  very  properly, 
with  self-respect  and  sterling  manhood,  seek  for  promo- 
tion, knowing  that  to  hold  a  city  office  will  be  a  decora- 
tion. It  should  be  a  badge  of  honor  to  hold  an  office, 
rather  than  a  badge  of  disgrace  and  slavery.  Proper 


206  MUNICIPAL  REFORM 

ambition  for  office  should  be  commended  rather  than 
checked. 

This  club  occupies  a  proud  position  as  an  exponent  of 
the  principles  and  policy  of  the  Republican  party.  Under 
no  circumstances  will  it  surrender  its  position  or  agree  to 
abate  its  activity  for  the  maintenance  of  the  principles  of 
that  party  in  national  and  State  affairs.  It  does  not  believe 
that  in  cooperating  with  the  citizens  of  this  city  for  the 
purpose  of  rescuing  the  city  from  misrule  its  power  or 
influence  on  national  and  State  affairs  will  be  in  the  slight- 
est degree  impaired.  Neither  do  we  ask  that  any  other 
political  organization  shall  surrender  one  iota  of  its  activity 
in  promoting  the  views  it  may  maintain  upon  all  other 
questions.  On  those  questions  we  will  go  before  the  peo- 
ple differing  as  heretofore,  and  seek  their  approval  of 
the  views  we  respectively  entertain  with  the  same  earnest- 
ness and  unabated  vigor,  notwithstanding  we  join  hands 
and  join  forces  for  the  purpose  of  good  government  in  the 
city. 

The  question  of  reform  in  this  city  is  liable  to  be  greatly 
influenced  by  the  action  taken  in  the  Constitutional  Con- 
vention and  by  legislation  at  Albany,  and  it  is  impossible 
to  forecast  what  that  will  be.  If  separate  municipal  elec- 
tions shall  be  secured  the  outcome  may  be  the  formation 
of  a  permanent  city  reform  party,  irrespective  of  all  party 
affiliations  in  national  and  State  affairs.  If  such  shall  be 
the  result  it  will  be  well.  The  time  is  not  ripe  for  the  con- 
sideration of  that  question. 

This  club,  as  a  club,  is  not  adapted  by  its  organization 
to  lead  in  such  a  movement.  Its  traditional  policy  is  not 
to  take  part  in  party  organizations.  Besides,  its  well- 
known  political  character  would  foredoom  any  movement 
of  that  kind  of  failure.  The  members  of  this  club  as 


MUNICIPAL  REFORM  207 

citizens  may  properly  unite  with  other  citizens  in  such  a 
movement,  and  if  such  a  movement  should  be  inaugurated 
and  should  appear  to  lead  the  way  to  a  truly  non-partisan 
city  government,  undoubtedly  this  club  would  give  cordial 
support  to  such  a  ticket. 

The  present  attempted  reforms  within  the  Republican 
and  Democratic  parties  will  no  doubt  have  an  important 
and  far-reaching  influence.  These  movements  will  be 
closely  watched  by  the  best  citizens  of  both  parties,  and  it 
may  be  that  a  genuine  reform  government  will  be  evolved 
through  those  organizations.  The  citizens  are  in  no  tem- 
per to  be  trifled  with  in  this  matter.  Reform  in  the  city 
government  is  demanded,  either  within  the  old  party  lines 
or  by  a  disregard  of  them  in  city  matters. 

Your  committee,  with  a  full  sense  of  the  great  respon- 
sibility that  has  been  placed  upon  them,  and  with  a  full 
appreciation  of  the  importance  of  the  subject,  submit  this 
report  for  the  thoughtful  consideration  of  the  club  and 
the  citizens  of  this  city  generally,  and  recommend  the 
adoption  by  the  club  of  the  following  resolutions : 

Resolved,  That  the  Union  League  Club  ratifies  and 
adopts  the  foregoing  report  of  its  committee. 

Resolved,  That,  within  substantially  the  lines  indicated 
by  this  report,  it  pledges  its  hearty  support  and  coopera- 
tion to  all  associations,  political  organizations,  and  indi- 
viduals who  may  join  in  the  effort  for  the  election  of  a 
city  ticket  to  secure  a  non-partisan  reform  government 
for  the  city  of  New  York.  That  if  a  union  of  the  citizens 
of  all  parties  for  municipal  reform  shall  be  effected  and  a 
genuine  reform  ticket  shall  be  nominated,  it  pledges  its 
hearty  support  to  such  ticket. 

New  York,  January,  1894. 


BENJAMIN  HARBISON  CAMPAIGN 

In  the  pending  political  contest  going  on  in  this  country 
the  centre  of  the  battle  is  the  fiscal  policy  of  the  govern- 
ment. The  Republican  position  on  the  tariff  question  is 
that,  in  levying  impost  duties  to  support  the  government, 
they  should  be  so  levied  as  to  promote  domestic  industries. 
This  policy  is  popularly  known  as  a  protective  tariff  policy. 

The  platform  adopted  by  the  Democratic  party  declares 
that  the  "  federal  government  has  no  constitutional  power 
to  enforce  and  collect  tariff  duties  except  for  the  purposes 
of  revenue  only."  The  issue  between  the  parties,  assum- 
ing that  it  is  the  purpose  of  the  Democratic  party  to  obtain 
this  revenue  from  imposts,  is,  therefore,  reduced  to  one 
of  two  methods  of  getting  the  revenue — one  a  strictly 
revenue  tariff,  and  the  other  a  protective  tariff. 

It  is  admitted  on  all  hands  that  the  primary  purpose  of 
impost  duties  is  to  raise  the  money  necessary  to  support 
the  general  government.  The  most  vital  function  of  a 
government  is  the  power  to  raise  money  for  its  support. 
A  government's  existence  depends  upon  its  possession  of 
this  power,  and  the  exercise  of  the  power  must  go  on  or 
the  government  will  fail.  Whatever  difference  of  opinion 
there  may  be  as  to  forms  of  government,  all  have  this 
cornerstone  in  common.  Political  economists  may  differ 
as  to  the  method  of  raising  the  money,  but  all  agree  as  to 
the  basis  upon  which  the  political  structure  we  call  a  civil 
government  must  stand.  There  are  but  three  sources, 
with  trifling  exceptions,  known  to  civilized  countries,  from 


BENJAMIN  HARRISON  CAMPAIGN  209 

which  to  derive  revenue,  and  those  are  either  impost  duties 
(commonly  called  tariff  duties),  export  duties,  and  internal 
taxes,  or  direct  taxation  in  some  form.  Export  duties  form 
no  part  of  the  fiscal  policy  of  this  country  and  need  not 
be  referred  to  again.  Statesmanship  in  financial  matters 
has  to  deal  with  the  method  of  raising  the  necessary 
moneys  to  carry  on  the  government.  It  is  the  statesman's 
duty  to  point  out  the  place  or  places  from  which,  and  pro- 
vide the  means  by  which,  the  collection  of  the  money  can 
be  enforced.  The  political  economist  may  very  properly 
point  out  the  best  method  of  raising  the  money  so  that 
the  burden  may  fall  as  lightly  upon,  and  be  distributed 
as  justly  among,  the  people  as  possible ;  and,  therefore,  the 
statesman  should  be  a  political  economist. 

For  the  fiscal  year  terminating  June  30,  1891,  the 
United  States  Government  raised  from  impost  duties 
$219,522,205.  It  raised  from  internal  revenue  $145,- 
689,249.  The  post-office  receipts  were  $65,931,785. 
From  other  sources  about  $27,000,000  were  raised,  mak- 
ing the  total  receipts  of  the  government  for  that  year 
the  sum  of  $458,544,233.  For  the  purposes  of  this  dis- 
cussion we  shall  only  deal  with  the  customs  duties,  stated 
in  round  figures  at  $220,000,000,  the  amount  received  for 
the  fiscal  year  terminating  June  30,  1891,  as  reported 
by  the  Treasury  Department  at  the  opening  of  Congress 
in  December,  1891.  This  is  approximately  the  sum  re- 
quired each  year  to  support  the  government.  It  is  prob- 
able that  a  smaller  sum  of  customs  revenue  will  be  re- 
ported to  Congress  next  December.  As  to  the  doctrine  of 
protection  herein  contended  for,  it  will  be  the  same  what- 
ever that  sum  may  be.  We  take  the  last  official  report 
made  to  Congress  as  the  basis  of  our  paper. 

In  dealing  with  this  sum  we  shall  assume  that  the  Demo- 
14 


210  BENJAMIN  HARRISON  CAMPAIGN 

cratic  party  intends,  in  good  faith,  to  raise  it  by  impost 
duties,  and  that  it  proposes  to  levy  it  somewhere  upon 
foreign  products  landed  in  our  ports.  While  it  is  un- 
doubtedly true  that  the  Democratic  party  has  a  vast  body 
of  free-traders  who  are  trying  to  educate  the  people  into 
the  doctrine  of  free  trade,  it  is  not  nominated  in  the  Demo- 
cratic platform  that  such  is  the  intention  of  the  party; 
and,  for  the  present,  they  cannot  object  that  we  assume 
a  bona  fide  intention  on  their  part  of  continuing  im- 
post duties  to  secure  at  least  that  amount  of  revenue. 
Such  being  the  fact,  it  becomes  vitally  important  to 
the  business  interests  of  the  country  to  know  with  cer- 
tainty what  it  is  that  they  mean  to  tax  in  order  to  raise 
this  money. 

There  is  no  difference  in  the  quality  of  the  money  that  is 
turned  into  the  Treasury  by  an  impost  duty,  whether  it 
comes  from  a  duty  so  levied  as  to  protect  American  indus- 
tries or  a  duty  levied  for  revenue  only,  regardless  of  our 
industries.  If  one  is  a  tax  upon  the  consumer,  the  other 
is  also  a  tax  upon  him.  They  are  precisely  alike  in  that 
feature  of  the  question.  The  burden  of  it  as  a  tax  must  be 
carried  upon  one  shoulder  or  the  other. 

Revenue  reformers  and  philosophers  are  constantly 
talking  about  a  protective  tariff  as  if  it  were  a  tax  for  the 
benefit  of  a  favored  class,  which  they  call  the  manufac- 
turers. Such  an  assertion  is  untrue  in  fact,  as  they  well 
know.  The  impost  is  not  for  the  benefit  of  the  manufac- 
turers, so  far  as  raising  money  is  involved.  The  impost 
is  for  the  support  of  the  government,  and  to  enable  it  to 
perform  its  functions  without  levying  a  like  amount  in 
some  other  form  upon  the  people ;  and  the  question  comes 
down,  in  its  final  analysis,  whether,  on  the  whole,  this 
method  of  taxation  by  imposts  so  levied  as  to  promote  our 


BENJAMIN  HARRISON  CAMPAIGN  211 

industries  does  not  promote  the  general  prosperity  in  a 
higher  degree  than  any  other  mode  of  taxation. 

Among  the  powers  conferred  upon  Congress  in  the  Con- 
stitution is  the  power  "  to  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties, 
imposts,  and  excises."  There  is  no  limitation  as  to  the 
purposes  for  which  duties  and  imposts  shall  be  laid,  but 
they  are  required  to  be  uniform  throughout  the  United 
States.  The  framers  of  the  Constitution  understood  that 
there  were  two  purposes  of  "  duties  and  imposts  " — one 
was  to  raise  revenue,  and  the  other  wras  the  protection  of 
manufacturers.  The  second  act  of  Congress,  passed  im- 
mediately after  the  opening  of  the  first  session,  which  act 
was  signed  by  George  Washington,  declared  that  "  it  is 
necessary,  for  the  support  of  the  government,  for  the  dis- 
charge of  the  debts  of  the  United  States,  and  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  manufacturers,  that  duties  and  imposts  be 
laid  upon  imported  goods,  wares,  and  merchandise." 

Here  we  have  the  dual  purpose  declared  by  the  men 
fresh  from  the  Constitutional  Convention.  One  was  to 
raise  money,  the  other  was  to  protect  manufacturers. 
These  purposes  were  to  be  affected  by  duties  laid  on  "  im- 
ported goods,  wares,  and  merchandise."  It  is  in  the  nature 
of  the  case  that  an  impost  upon  what  we  can  produce  must 
act  in  some  degree  to  protect  them.  These  consequences 
must  flow  from  any  tariff  except  one  levied  upon  things 
we  cannot  manufacture  or  produce.  No  one  has  as  yet 
advocated  a  tariff  so  limited. 

The  Republican  doctrine  of  a  protective  tariff  accepts 
this  secondary  effect  of  promoting  our  industries  as  an 
effect  of  the  greatest  public  benefit. 

As  often  happens  in  the  affairs  of  life,  the  secondary 
effect  in  many  cases  becomes  of  greater  importance  than 
the  primary  object.  If,  as  a  result,  revenue  in  some  par- 


212  BENJAMIN  HARRISON  CAMPAIGN 

ticular  cases  is  lessened  by  reason  of  the  increase  of  the 
domestic  manufactures,  experience  has  shown  that  the 
country  has  greatly  prospered  as  the  consequence.  The 
primary  purpose  of  the  tariff  and  the  secondary  effect  of  it 
must  stand  or  fall  together. 

One  of  the  purposes  declared  in  the  preamble  of  the 
Constitution  is  to  "  promote  the  general  welfare."  The 
body  of  the  Constitution  gives  power  to  Congress  to  "  pro- 
vide "  for  the  "  general  welfare."  If  the  general  welfare 
is  promoted  by  a  protective  tariff,  it  is  within  the  terms 
and  scope  of  the  Constitution  as  applied  and  defended  by 
its  founders.  The  wisdom  of  continuing  an  impost  is  a 
question  of  good  or  bad  policy  for  political  economists  and 
statesmen  to  consider,  after  carefully  studying  the  effect 
of  an  impost  law,  both  as  to  its  primary  purpose  and  sec- 
ondary effect  of  protection.  The  doctrine  of  a  protective 
tariff  involves  the  two  purposes  of  raising  revenue  and  the 
protection  of  our  industries  by  duties  and  imposts. 

The  phrase  "  revenue  tariff  "  is  the  most  elastic  and  in- 
accurate phrase  that  ever  crept  into  the  political  history  of 
this  country.  Its  inexactness  consists  in  this,  that  it  does 
not  express  a  certain  policy.  It  is  elastic  enough  to  em- 
brace a  protective  tariff,  for  the  revenues  of  a  protective 
tariff  are  precisely  the  same  as  the  revenues  from  a  reve- 
nue tariff  in  so  far  as  they  go  towards  the  support  of 
the  government.  A  revenue  tariff  may  be  a  good  pro- 
tective tariff,  or  it  may  be  a  very  bad  protective  tariff,  and 
yet  produce  the  same  results  in  furnishing  money  for  the 
government. 

The  people  are  in  no  mood,  when  such  vast  interests 
are  at  stake,  to  accept  phrases  for  facts,  and  platitudes  for 
clearly  defined  policy.  This  phrase  "  revenue  tariff  "  had 
its  greatest  virility  for  political  juggling  in  the  great  de- 


BENJAMIN  HARRISON  CAMPAIGN  213 

bate  on  tariff  policy  between  1840  and  1850.  Its  uncer- 
tainty enabled  it  to  do  duty  in  manufacturing  States  like 
Pennsylvania  and  the  New  England  States  as  a  protective 
tariff,  and  to  do  duty  in  the  South  and  West  for  a  non- 
protective  tariff.  What  the  people  now  desire  to  know  is, 
Do  the  Democrats  propose  to  raise  this  money  by  imposts 
upon  substantially  the  same  articles  that  the  Republicans 
are  raising  it  upon,  or  do  they  propose  to  raise  it  by  im- 
posts upon  other  articles?  If  upon  other  articles  in  gen- 
eral, what  articles  do  they  propose  to  levy  the  duty  upon? 
If  the  reformers  will  develop  their  ideas  as  to  where  they 
propose  to  levy  these  imposts  to  raise  this  $220,000,000, 
the  business  interests  of  the  country  can  then  study  the 
problem  of  its  effect  upon  those  interests.  Until  they  go 
further  than  to  proclaim  that  they  propose  a  "  revenue 
tariff,"  they  are  justly  chargeable  with  concealing  their 
purposes  and  deceiving  the  public. 

It  is  an  easy  matter  to  formulate  a  revenue  tariff  which 
shall  furnish  to  the  country  $220,000,000.  It  is  of  vital 
importance  to  know  upon  what  subjects  these  imposts  shall 
be  levied.  A  revenue  tariff  could  be  easily  framed  that 
would  furnish  this  money  by  taxing  tea,  coffee,  sugar, 
crude  rubber,  and  a  multitude  of  other  articles  that  must 
be  imported  into  the  country,  and  it  would  fall  strictly 
within  the  definition  of  a  revenue  tariff.  The  Democrats 
have  never  yet  agreed  upon  a  definition  of  the  phrase 
"  revenue  tariff."  Formerly  they  used  to  be  pressed  to 
the  wall  for  a  definition,  and  in  some  instances  it. was  de- 
fined to  be  the  business  of  the  government  to  raise  money 
in  the  most  convenient  and  economical  manner  for  the 
government,  regardless  of  the  manufacturing  interests  of 
the  country.  Do  they  mean  that  to-day?  If  they  mean 
to  levy  it  so  as  to  promote  American  industries,  then  it  is 


214  BENJAMIN  HARRISON  CAMPAIGN 

essentially  a  protective  tariff,  the  same  in  principle  as  that 
contended  for  by  the  Republicans.  Differences  of  opinion 
may  arise  in  special  cases  as  to  the  amount  and  subjects 
of  taxation,  but  essentially  a  revenue  tariff  which  pro- 
motes American  industries  is  a  protective  tariff.  A  rev- 
enue tariff  which  disregards  American  industries  may  be 
a  most  excellent  revenue  tariff  so  far  as  mere  revenue 
goes,  and  produce  precisely  the  same  support  for  the  gov- 
ernment that  a  protective  tariff  does,  but  may  be  very 
destructive  to  the  industrial  interests  of  the  country. 

If  the  Democrats  do  not  propose  to  levy  their  revenue 
tariff  so  as  to  promote  American  industries,  then  it  is 
fair  to  presume  that  they  propose  to  levy  it  disregarding 
those  industries.  They  will  then  be  practically  upon  the 
basis  of  a  revenue  tariff  such  as  was  contended  for  by 
many  of  the  speakers  and  writers  between  1840  and  1850. 
That  the  present  tariff  raises  revenue  for  the  support  of 
the  government  is  not  the  point  of  attack  on  the  part  of 
the  Democrats.  That  it  performs  this  function  efficiently 
and  well  they  must  concede.  And  so  far  there  seems  to  be 
no  good  reason  why  it  is  not  just  as  good  a  revenue  tariff 
under  which  to  support  the  government  as  any  tariff  that 
they  could  frame.  This  tariff  performs  all  the  functions 
of  a  revenue  tariff,  furnishing  just  about  the  right  amount 
of  money  for  the  needs  of  the  government  which  should 
be  derived  from  this  source. 

The  question  is,  Do  the  Democrats  mean,  in  good  faith, 
to  raise  by  impost  duties  $220,000,000?  There  can  be 
but  two  answers  to  this — one  is  that  they  do,  and  the  other 
is  that  they  do  not.  If  they  do  raise  the  $220,000,000 
they  must  raise  it  by  some  method  which  will  promote  our 
industries  or  by  a  method  which  disregards  them.  The 
first  method  is  simply  and  purely  a  protective  tariff,  and 


BENJAMIN  HARRISON  CAMPAIGN  215 

the  debate  over  the  great  subject  immediately  descends 
to  a  question  of  detail  as  between  the  respective  industries. 
Here  there  is  a  field  for  wide  difference  of  opinion,  and 
the  result  will  be,  as  it  always  has  been  where  interests  are 
so  diversified,  extending  over  our  great  country,  with  a 
population  of  sixty-three  millions,  that  many  compromises 
will  have  to  be  made  before  any  tariff  can  be  agreed 
upon.  > 

If  they  do  not  propose  to  raise  the  entire  sum  by  im- 
posts, but  to  reduce  the  amount  of  money  collected  on 
imported  goods,  this  is  important  to  be  known.  There  is 
but  one  other  source  for  them  from  which  to  furnish  sup- 
port to  the  government,  and  that  is  to  reestablish  many 
of  the  vexatious  and  unpopular  kinds  of  direct  internal 
taxation  that  were  in  vogue  during  and  subsequent  to  the 
war  period.  The  field  of  internal  taxation  is  pretty  well 
worked  at  this  time  to  support  our  State,  municipal,  and 
local  governments,  and  the  people  are  not  anxious  to  see 
the  tax  gatherer  for  the  general  government  asking  for 
a  further  sum  for  its  support.  It  is  not  yet  made  clear  to 
them  that  it  is  desirable  to  change  the  traditional  policy  of 
this  government.  Since  its  formation  this  policy  has  been 
to  seek  support  from  impost  duties  whenever  a  sufficient 
sum  could  be  realized  from  that  source. 

The  Republican  principles  are  clear,  clean-cut,  and 
easily  defined.  The  Republicans  without  hesitation  de- 
clare their  intention  to  raise  this  revenue  by  impost  duties ; 
that  they  do  not  propose  to  enlarge  the  number  of  sources 
of  internal  direct  taxation  from  which  revenue  may  be  de- 
rived ;  that  they  do  propose  to  levy  these  imposts  so  as  to 
promote,  rather  than  depress,  our  industries.  However 
the  wisdom  of  a  particular  impost  may  be  debated,  the 
broad  principle  remains  precisely  as  we  have  stated  it, 


216  BENJAMIN  HARRISON  CAMPAIGN 

and  upon  this  principle  we  are  willing  to  submit  our  posi- 
tion to  the  verdict  of  the  people. 

If  the  Democrats  do  not  propose  to  promote  American 
industries  in  raising  the  revenue,  it  is  not  very  unfair  to 
assume  that  the  definition  given  of  a  revenue  tariff  as  one 
that  raises  revenue,  regardless  of  its  effect  upon  domestic 
industries,  is  the  principle  upon  which  they  go  before 
the  people.  On  this  basis  it  is  difficult  to  explain  the  fierce 
attack  that  they  have  made  upon  many  of  the  provisions 
of  the  McKinley  Bill.  If  the  McKinley  Bill  raises  reve- 
nue, why  should  not  the  Democrats  at  least  be  indifferent 
to  the  question  whether  it  does  or  does  not  promote  Ameri- 
can industries  ?  One  of  the  most  amazing  and  unaccount- 
able, arid  in  some  aspects  amusing,  incidents  of  the  dis- 
cussions on  the  part  of  the  reformers  is  the  terrible  on- 
slaught that  has  been  made  upon  the  provision  in  the  Mc- 
Kinley Bill  imposing  an  impost  upon  tin  plate.  Certainly, 
if  American  industries  are  not  to  be  promoted,  but  reve- 
nue is  what  is  sought,  it  is  just  as  well  to  derive  revenue 
from  that  source  as  from  any  other.  The  protectionist 
claims  that  this  provision  will  operate,  within  a  reasonable 
time,  to  transfer  to  this  country  a  most  important  and 
valuable  industry.  The  revenue  reformer  and  free-trader 
denies  this  proposition.  Let  us  look  at  it  in  the  two  aspects. 
It  either  will  do  it  or  it  will  not  do  it.  If  it  will  not  do  it, 
the  impost  will  certainly  go  on  turning  revenue  into  the 
government,  performing  the  functions  of  a  revenue  tariff, 
and  so  render  good  service  for  the  support  of  the  govern- 
ment. The  only  question,  therefore,  which  would  seem 
to  be  pertinent  to  the  issue  as  to  the  propriety  of  this  im- 
post would  be  whether  it  is  an  unjust  tax  on  the  people. 
If  it  is  a  tax  carried  as  lightly  as  any  other,  why  should 
not  a  revenue  tariff  embrace  this  impost?  If  it  is  a  tax 


BENJAMIN  HARRISON  CAMPAIGN  217 

carried  more  lightly  than  many  others,  it  certainly  serves 
a  most  useful  purpose. 

In  the  light  of  the  brief  experience  we  have  had  under 
that  impost,  it  is  a  fact  worth  noting  that  the  great  body 
of  the  consumers  have  paid  nothing  by  way  of  an  advance 
in  the  price  of  their  tin  utensils  or  canned  goods.  For 
the  truth  of  this  we  can  appeal  to  every  householder  and 
every  housewife  in  the  land.  For  the  service  that  this  im- 
post renders  as  a  revenue  measure,  it  is  certainly  entitled 
to  the  commendation  of  a  revenue  tariff  man.  It  may  be 
that  it  has  received  this  just  meed  of  praise  from  this 
class  of  writers,  but  if  it  has  it  has  escaped  our  observa- 
tion. It  ought  also  to  be  a  comfort  to  the  reformer  to 
know  that  the  people  are  paying  no  advance  on  their  tin- 
ware or  canned  goods  by  reason  of  this  impost ;  so  that  the 
impost  has  furnished  revenue  without  burdening  the  con- 
sumer. This  feature  of  the  operation  of  this  impost  ought, 
in  common  justice,  to  have  received  the  commendation 
of  the  revenue  reformer.  How  the  burden  of  the  impost 
has  been  adjusted  as  between  the  tin-plate  manufacturer 
and  the  manufacturer  of  tinware  and  tin  cans  ought  not 
to  interest  the  reformer  very  much,  for  these  people  are 
only  manufacturers,  and,  upon  the  theory  of  the  revenue 
reformer,  they  are  not  entitled  to  much  consideration  at 
their  hands.  The  reformer's  whole  burden  is  unjust  taxa- 
tion upon  the  consumers.  Taxation  which  does  not  rest 
heavily  upon  consumers  should  be,  from  their  standpoint, 
ideal  taxation,  and  such  seems  to  be  the  character  of  the 
impost  upon  tin.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  this  impost,  while 
doing  this  beneficial  work  of  furnishing  revenue  for  the 
government,  should  operate,  as  the  Republicans  contend 
it  will,  in  transferring  to  this  country  this  important  in- 
dustry, as  hundreds  of  other  industries  have  been  trans- 


218  BENJAMIN  HARRISON  CAMPAIGN 

ferred  under  a  like  policy,  widening  the  field  of  labor, 
what  particular  harm  is  done  to  the  country?  We  feel 
confident  that  the  people  will  look  on  with  approval  while 
this  process  is  going  on,  even  though  the  theories  of  the 
reformers  go  down  before  the  irresistible  logic  of  the  fact. 
It  may  be  hard  on  the  theorists,  but  they  will  only  suffer 
one  more  defeat  in  the  same  line  of  the  many  defeats  they 
have  suffered  during  the  last  forty  years.  Theories  have 
always  had  to  go  down  before  the  logic  of  facts,  and  no 
class  of  theorists  have  ever  had  to  suffer  so  many  defeats 
in  that  way  as  the  free-traders  and  tariff  reformers  of  this 
country.  According  to  the  theories  of  the  free-traders  and 
tariff  reformers,  if  the  protective  tariff  is  removed  from 
industries  that  we  can  prosecute  in  this  country,  the  cost 
of  the  article  will  be  cheaper  to  the  consumer.  This  is 
the  whole  burden  of  their  argument.  If  the  facts  of  our 
experience  justified  their  conclusion  it  might  present  a 
grave  question  as  to  the  wisdom  of  continuing  impost 
duties  in  this  country.  Many  considerations,  such  as  the 
effect  of  free  trade  in  destroying  fields  of  labor,  would 
still  remain  to  be  considered.  Experience  shows  that  the 
theorists  are  wrong  as  to  the  effect  of  a  protective  tariff 
on  prices  to  consumers.  It  may  be  put  down  as  a  general 
proposition,  established  by  the  experience  of  the  last  forty 
years,  that  whenever  the  foreign  manufacturers  have  had 
our  markets,  the  consumer  has  paid  higher  prices  for  his 
goods  than  he  has  paid  after  our  domestic  industries  were 
established  under  a  protective  policy.  Upon  this  point  we 
may  challenge  the  experience  of  the  great  body  of  the  con- 
sumers throughout  the  land.  Let  them  reflect  in  their 
own  mind  upon  the  prices  formerly  paid  by  them  for  vari- 
ous articles  in  every-day  use  and  the  prices  they  now  pay 
for  the  same  articles  and  they  will  be  convinced.  If  there 


BENJAMIN  HARRISON  CAMPAIGN  219 

are  any  exceptions  to  this  rule,  they  are  so  rare  as  not  to 
abate  from  the  force  of  the  rule  as  a  general  proposition. 
The  exceptions,  if  any,  will  generally  be  found  to  be  in 
luxuries.  The  instances  which  illustrate  this  are  innumer- 
able. Explain  it  as  the  reformers  may,  steel  rails,  carpets, 
crockery,  glassware,  table  cutlery,  silks,  silk  ribbons,  dress 
goods,  watches,  steel  wire  nails,  linseed  oil,  soda  ash,  steel 
hoops,  cotton  ties,  and  numerous  other  articles  of  a  kin- 
dred nature  in  common  use,  embracing  almost  all  the  wants 
of  the  people,  are  purchased  every  day  by  the  consumer 
at  a  lower  price  than  they  were  furnished  to  us  by  the 
foreign  manufacturer  before  our  own  industries  were  able 
to  enter  the  field  in  competition  with  the  foreigners.  This 
is  all  wrong,  according  to  the  theorists ;  but  somehow  the 
fact  stands  out  in  our  experience,  which  leads  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  theorists  left  out,  in  their  calculations, 
some  important  elements.  We  suspect  that  they  do  not 
give  due  credit  to  the  cupidity  and  love  of  gain  of  the 
foreign  manufacturers.  At  all  events,  we  know  of  no 
experience  in  this  country  which  justifies  us  in  giving  up 
our  home  markets — the  best  in  the  world — to  the  manu- 
facturers in  foreign  countries,  for  the  purpose  of  getting 
goods  for  domestic  use  at  a  lower  rate  than  we  can 
get  them  with  our  own  manufacturers  in  the  field  as 
competitors. 

The  fact  that  a  rival  nation  greatly  desires  another  na- 
tion to  pursue  a  certain  policy  raises  a  strong  presumption 
that  that  desire  is  a  selfish  desire.  Our  greatest  rivals  in 
this  conflict  of  interests  are  the  manufacturers  of  Great 
Britain.  Their  desire  that  we  should  change  our  tra- 
ditional fiscal  policy  is  intense.  ~No  one  knows  how  intense 
it  is  who  has  not  travelled  in  England  and  conversed 
with  the  leading  and  business  men.  Nothing  could  occur 


220  BENJAMIN  HARRISON  CAMPAIGN 

throughout  the  world  that  would  afford  such  unbounded 
joy  to  the  English  public  as  the  success  of  the  Democratic 
party  in  the  election  of  Grover  Cleveland,  because  it  would 
mean  the  abandonment  of  our  fiscal  policy.  If  the  change 
of  our  policy  were  in  their  hands  to  make,  whether  you 
call  it  "  free  trade  "  or  "  revenue  reform  "  it  would  be 
accomplished  immediately. 

The  question  that  arises  at  once  in  the  mind  of  a  wary 
man  is  whether  this  intense  desire  on  the  part  of  Great 
Britain  for  us  to  change  our  policy  is  for  the  good  of 
England  or  for  our  good.  A  sagacious  business  man  would 
be  likely  to  suspect  that  it  was  a  selfish  desire  on  the  part 
of  the  English,  and  not  a  benevolent  wish  to  promote  our 
prosperity.  If  he  looks  carefully  into  the  policy  of  the 
English  Government  for  more  than  one  hundred  years 
past,  he  will  find  that  wherever  it  has  sought  to  influence 
foreign  nations,  whether  by  persuasion,  diplomacy,  or  gun- 
powder, it  has  always  been  with  a  single  eye  to  British 
interests.  We  are  second  to  none  in  our  admiration  for 
the  sturdy  enterprise  and  sterling  individuality  of  that 
nation ;  but  we  cannot  shut  our  eyes  to  the  fact  that  wher- 
ever she  has  by  any  means  imposed  her  policy  upon  an- 
other nation  it  has  always  been  to  sap  the  resources  of  that 
nation  for  her  own  benefit.  She  has  not  been  able  even 
to  hold  all  her  own  colonies  to  her  own  free-trade  theories, 
for  they  have  discovered  that  their  prosperity  has  been  too 
much  prostrated  by  a  policy  which  has  built  up  England's 
greatness. 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  Democrats,  reformers,  and 
theorists  who  are  seeking  to  break  down  our  traditional 
fiscal  policy  in  this  country  are  working  exactly  in  har- 
mony with,  and  upon  the  line  desired  by,  Great  Britain. 
The  American  people,  if  they  are  wise,  should  be  very 


BENJAMIN  HARRISON  CAMPAIGN  221 

slow  to  believe  that  such  policy  is  for  our  benefit  rather 
than  for  the  benefit  of  the  British  Empire.  Admiring  as 
we  do  the  sagacity  and  force  of  that  great  people,  we 
earnestly  protest  against  adopting  their  policy,  which  was 
in  vogue  in  this  country  before  the  American  Revolution, 
and  practically  in  vogue  after  the  Revolution  until  our 
Constitution  was  adopted.  We  prefer  rather  to  stand 
with  Washington,  Adams,  Jefferson,  Madison,  and  Mon- 
roe, who  had  experienced  the  effect  of  British  policy  upon 
our  trade  and  industries,  and  who  established,  with  our 
Constitution,  the  principle  of  protection  to  American  in- 
dustries and  defended  the  same  during  their  lifetime. 

Free  trade  is  essentially  a  British  policy.  It  is  soft- 
ened and  modified  by  the  phrase  "  revenue  reform  "  so 
as  to  make  it  palatable  to  the  American  people ;  but  it  is 
none  the  less  a  distinctive  policy,  antagonistic  to  the 
American  policy  of  protection  under  which  we  have  flour- 
ished, whenever  that  policy  has  been  in  vogue,  for  more 
than  one  hundred  years.  The  nation  that  consents  to  re- 
duce itself  to  be  a  producer  of  food  and  raw  materials  for 
a  manufacturing  nation  is  from  that  moment  a  vassal  of 
the  manufacturing  nation. 

The  policy  of  reciprocity  in  certain  lines  of  foreign 
products  is  one  of  the  latest  developments  of  Republican 
statesmanship.  It  is  too  soon  to  determine  the  full  effect 
of  this  policy,  but  the  Democrats,  with  their  usual  prompt- 
ness, denounce  it  a  "  sham."  In  what  particular  it  is  a 
"  sham  "  they  do  not  declare  officially.  No  one  pretends 
that  it  has  injured  our  foreign  commerce.  Every  one 
knows  that  it  has  opened  or  enlarged  numerous  foreign 
markets  for  many  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  our  farm 
products  and  manufactures.  The  only  thing  that  the 
Democratic  party  has  been  consistent  in  for  more  than 


222  BENJAMIN  HARRISON  CAMPAIGN 

thirty  years  is  its  steady  and  uniform  denunciation  of 
every  measure  brought  forward  by  Republican  statesmen, 
regardless  of  the  merits  of  the  measure.  The  Democrats 
have  had  no  particular  line  of  principles  that  they  have 
adhered  to,  except  that  they  have  always  been  ready  to 
put  themselves  in  front  of  Republican  progress  and  de- 
nounce it. 

Finally,  they  denounce  the  protective  tariff  as  uncon- 
stitutional, forgetting  apparently  that  the  framers  of  the 
Constitution  were  all  in  favor  of  a  protective  tariff,  and 
that  the  second  bill  signed  by  Washington  declared  in  so 
many  words  in  favor  of  a  protective  tariff  policy.  That 
circumstance,  however,  did  not  seem  to  weigh  much  with 
the  Democrats  at  Chicago.  When  they  found  the  Repub- 
licans adhering  to  the  principles  of  the  fathers  of  the 
republic,  they  promptly  took  their  normal  position  of  op- 
position to  the  Republicans,  and  also  of  the  opposition  to 
the  founders  of  the  republic. 

Republican  statesmanship  has  built  up  the  best  system 
of  currency  this  country  has  ever  known.  The  dollar  of 
one  section  is  as  good  as  the  dollar  of  any  other  section. 
All  the  movements  of  trade  and  travel  throughout  this  vast 
country  run  as  smoothly  as  do  the  business  and  travel  of 
the  British  Empire,  based  upon  the  Bank  of  England  notes. 
The  limits  of  this  paper  forbid  the  discussion  of  the  evils 
of  issues  of  State  currency.  Every  man  in  the  land  who 
handled  money  before  1861  had  experience  of  the  losses 
and  annoyances  of  that  kind  of  currency.  It  is  difficult 
to  account  for  the  passage  of  the  resolution  in  the  Demo- 
cratic platform  at  Chicago  in  favor  of  repealing  the  tax 
on  currency  issued  by  State  banks,  except  upon  the  theory 
that  here  they  found  a  monument  to  the  wisdom  of  Re- 
publican statesmanship,  and  that,  to  be  consistent  with 


BENJAMIN  HARRISON  CAMPAIGN  228 

their  record,  they  must  put  the  party  in  opposition  to  it. 
In  fact,  opposition  to,  and  denunciation  of,  Republican 
measures  has  been  the  lode  star  of  the  party,  regardless 
of  the  merits  of  a  measure.  Yet,  in  the  presence  of  all 
the  din  and  noise  of  denunciation,  Republican  statesmen 
have  gone  on  maintaining  Republican  principles  and  de- 
veloping Republican  policy.  The  country  has  grown  and 
prospered ;  its  resources  have  been  developed  with  a  rapid- 
ity that  has  astonished  the  world.  We  have  maintained 
our  institutions  at  home  and  commanded  the  respect  of 
foreign  nations. 

Conspicuous  among  the  statesmen  who  have  carried  for- 
ward this  great  work  is  Benjamin  Harrison,  our  candidate 
for  President.  Whether  on  the  battlefield  or  the  forum, 
in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  or  as  President  of  this 
great  nation,  he  has  always  acquitted  himself  as  one  of 
the  best  types  of  an  American  Christian  statesman.  While 
we  recognize  that  the  principles  of  a  party  touch  more 
vitally  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  a  people  than  does 
the  individuality  of  any  man,  we  also  recognize  that  prin- 
ciples and  sound  governmental  policy  are  only  maintained 
and  carried  forward  by  men  of  the  stalwart  type  of  our 
President. 

We,  therefore,  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  follow- 
ing resolutions : 

Resolved,  That  the  Union  League  Club  approves  of  the 
principles  of  the  Republican  party  as  enunciated  in  the 
platform  adopted  at  the  last  National  Convention ;  that  it 
reaffirms  its  adherence  to  the  principle  that  the  support 
of  the  general  government  should  be  derived,  as  far  as 
practicable,  from  impost  duties;  that  in  levying  such 
duties  they  should  be  levied  so  as  to  promote  American 


224  BENJAMIN  HARRISON  CAMPAIGN 

industries  and  preserve  the  principles  of  a  protective  tariff, 
which  was  inaugurated  by  Washington  and  others  who 
framed  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

Resolved,  That  we  ratify  and  approve  the  nomination 
of  Benjamin  Harrison  for  reelection  as  President  of  these 
United  States.  His  administration  has  been  firm  and  con- 
servative. He  has  maintained  the  principles  of  the  Re- 
publican party,  and  the  country  has  enjoyed  unusual  pros- 
perity. He  has  maintained  with  a  firm  hand  the  rights 
and  good  name  of  the  nation  in  all  our  foreign  relations. 
He  has  won  the  confidence  of  all  thoughtful  and  conserva- 
tive people.  The  best  interests  and  prosperity  of  the  peo- 
ple will  be  promoted  by  his  reelection. 

Resolved,  That  the  nomination  of  Whitelaw  Reid,  one 
of  the  distinguished  members  of  this  club,  for  Vice-Presi- 
dent  is  ratified  and  approved.  He  has  long  been  known  to 
us  as  a  gentleman  who  has  conspicuous  ability  to  discharge 
any  duty  that  may  devolve  upon  him.  He  is  a  Republi- 
can of  the  best  type,  in  full  sympathy  with  the  policy  and 
principles  of  the  party. 

New  York,  September  27,  1892. 


POLICE  LEGISLATION 

The  Committee  on  Political  Reform  submit  the  follow- 
ing report  and  resolutions,  and  recommend  their  adoption : 

At  a  meeting  of  this  club  held  on  the  8th  day  of  Febru- 
ary, 1894,  the  following  resolution  was  adopted : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Political  Reform  be 
requested  to  report  at  the  next  meeting  what  action,  if 
any,  should  be  taken  by  this  club  touching  the  bills  now 
before  the  legislature  relating  to  reform,  reorganization, 
or  changes  in  the  Police  Department  of  the  city  of  New 
York,  and  especially  report  if,  in  their  judgment,  it  is 
desirable  that  this  department  should  have  but  one  head, 
that  it  should  be  divorced  from  politics,  and  that  the  duty 
of  appointing  inspectors  of  election  should  be  transferred 
to  a  separate  bureau." 

Your  committee  have  procured  copies  of  all  bills  pend- 
ing in  Albany  up  to  a  recent  date,  and  have  given  them 
as  careful  examination  as  the  limit  of  time  would  allow. 
They  find  pending  there  one  Senate  and  four  Assembly 
bills  treating  upon  the  subject  of  Police  Commissioners  of 
the  city  of  New  York. 

The  first  one  in  date  was  Senate  Bill  No.  35,  introduced 
January  9,  1894,  by  Mr.  Lexow.  The  next  in  order  was 
Assembly  Bill  No.  42,  introduced  January  10,  1894,  by 
Mr.  Thornton.  This  was  followed  on  January  18th  by 

Assembly  Bill  No.  190,  introduced  by  Mr.  Lawson,  and 
15 


226  POLICE  LEGISLATION 

on  February  7th  Assembly  Bill  ISTo.  564  was  introduced 
by  Mr.  Wray. 

These  bills  are  so  nearly  alike  that  they  may  be  consid- 
ered together.  The  main  purpose  is  the  same  in  all  of 
them,  since  they  all  propose  to  abolish  the  office  of  police 
commissioner  of  the  city  of  New  York,  and  provide  that 
hereafter  the  head  of  the  Police  Department  shall  be 
called  the  Board  of  Police.  This  is  a  mere  change  of 
name,  without  any  change  as  to  functions  to  be  performed. 
Each  bill  also  provides  that  not  more  than  two  of  the 
Board  of  Police  shall  at  any  time  belong  to  the  same  politi- 
cal party,  or  have  the  same  political  faith  or  opinions  on 
State  and  national  issues.  The  bills  are  not  all  in  accord 
as  to  the  time  when  these  changes  shall  take  place,  nor  as 
to  the  method  of  filling  vacancies. 

The  bills  of  Mr.  Lawson  and  Mr.  Wray  provide  that 
four  commissioners  shall  be  voted  for  by  the  electors  at 
a  general  election,  and  offer  a  scheme  of  election  by  which 
both  parties  shall  be  evenly  represented  in  the  board; 
but,  in  addition,  the  Wray  Bill  provides  that  the  superin- 
tendent of  police  shall  be  ex-officio  a  member  of  the  board, 
which  would  raise  its  membership  to  five. 

The  laws  of  the  organization  of  the  Police  Board  were 
formulated  in  what  is  known  as  the  Consolidation  Act, 
which  brought  together  and  consolidated  all  the  laws 
affecting  the  city  of  New  York  in  chapter  410  of  the  Laws 
of  1882.  The  Police  Department  is  treated  of  in  chapter 
8  of  said  act.  This  chapter  was  very  materially  amended 
in  1884  by  chapter  180,  page  200,  of  the  laws  of  that  year. 
Since  that  date  there  have  been  no  police  bills  passed 
affecting  materially  the  question  that  we  are  considering. 
The  law  of  1882,  as  amended  by  the  law  of  1884,  pro- 
vided for  four  police  commissioners  to  be  appointed  by 


POLICE  LEGISLATION  227 

the  mayor.  No  attempt  was  made  in  the  law  to  give  the 
board  a  non-partisan  character;  and  yet,  in  obedience  to 
public  sentiment,  that  practice  was  observed  by  all  of  the 
mayors  having  appointments  to  make  until  a  recent  date, 
when  the  board  was  made  to  consist  of  three  Democrats 
and  only  one  Republican. 

On  the  face  of  it,  if  there  were  an  honest  administration 
of  the  law  by  the  appointing  power,  it  is  eminently  fair 
and  just  that  each  party  should  be  equally  represented. 
Experience,  however,  has  established  that  so  long  as  the 
appointing  power  is  with  the  mayor  no  good  results  in 
the  administration  of  the  city  government  can  flow  from 
such  a  party  division  of  the  board. 

It  is  believed,  and  it  is  undoubtedly  true,  that  this 
division  has  laid  the  foundation  for  the  deals  and  arrange- 
ments between  party  leaders  which  have  been  such  a  bane 
to  the  government  of  this  city.  Until  the  electors  of  this 
city  appreciate  that  the  public  interests  require  the  elec- 
tion of  a  mayor  who  is  imbued  with  the  sentiment  that  a 
good  government  for  the  city  is  the  aim  and  purpose  of 
his  office,  rather  than  the  promotion  of  his  party,  no  bene- 
fit is  likely  to  be  derived  from  a  so-called  non-partisan 
board.  We  are  of  the  opinion,  therefore,  that  there  should 
be  no  change  in  the  present  law  so  long  as  the  power  of 
appointment  remains  with  the  mayor.  It  is  better  to  leave 
the  entire  responsibility  with  him  than  to  enact  into  the 
law  that  one-half  of  the  board  shall  be  Republicans,  when 
the  Republicans  to  be  selected  are  to  be  designated  by  a 
Tammany  mayor. 

The  efficiency  of  the  Police  Department  would  un- 
doubtedly be  promoted  by  a  single  head  rather  than  by 
a  board  of  four,  if  the  single  head  were  non-partisan  and 
devoted  to  the  interest  of  the  city.  The  administration 


228  POLICE  LEGISLATION 

of  the  Police  Department  should  be,  in  fact  and  in  spirit, 
emancipated  and  divorced  from  political  parties.  In  a 
true  conception  of  the  formation  of  the  Police  Board,  the 
commissioners  should  be  regarded  as  non-partisan  and 
judicial  rather  than  political ;  and  it  should  be  held  to  be 
the  plain  duty  of  every  police  officer,  in  the  exercise  of 
his  authority,  to  avoid  all  bias  and  discrimination  on  ac- 
count of  political  opinions  or  affiliations.  In  the  light  of 
past  experience,  police  legislation  should  be  directed  to 
the  enfranchisement  of  the  department  from  all  political 
influence  and  activity,  and  the  impartial  and  judicial  dis- 
charge of  its  duties. 

On  February  1,  1894,  a  bill  (No.  456)  was  introduced 
in  the  legislature  by  Mr.  Sheffield.  This  bill  proposes  to 
increase  materially  the  power  of  the  superintendent, 
emancipating  him  still  further  from  the  partisan  influence 
of  the  present  commissioners.  Such  an  act  would  un- 
doubtedly promote  the  efficiency  of  the  Police  Depart- 
ment. It  is  in  the  direction  of  concentrating  the  executive 
functions  of  the  department,  and  to  that  extent  is  entitled 
to  commendation. 

On  January  18th  a  bill  (No.  218)  was  introduced  in  the 
Assembly  by  Mr.  Thornton.  It  is  a  general  bill,  applicable 
to  all  cities,  counties,  and  towns,  and  seeks  to  compel  a 
non-partisan  administration  of  the  various  municipal  gov- 
ernments of  the  State.  As  New  York  is  not  excepted, 
its  provisions  would  seem  to  apply  to  this  city.  The  bill 
as  proposed  is  well  intended,  but  vicious  in  principle,  and 
should  not  be  passed. 

In  this  connection  we  recommend  legislation  to  remove 
from  the  Police  Department  the  Bureau  of  Elections,  and 
that  some  proper  and  safe  commission  be  created  to  take 
charge  of  the  bureau. 


POLICE  LEGISLATION  229 

It  cannot  be  too  often  impressed  upon  the  people  that 
reform  by  act  of  the  legislature  will  always  fail  until  the 
people,  through  their  intelligence  and  regard  for  good 
government,  rise  to  the  demands  of  the  occasion  and  elect 
a  mayor  who  will  be  devoted  to  the  interests  of  the  city 
rather  than  to  his  party. 

If  the  laws  now  on  the  statute  books  were  administered 
according  to  their  spirit  and  intent,  New  York  would  have 
very  nearly  an  ideal  government.  The  fault  is  not  so 
much  with  the  laws  as  with  the  manner  of  executing  them. 
It  is  the  agents  elected  by  the  people  to  execute  the  laws 
who  bring  discredit  upon  the  city  government.  The  in- 
genuity of  designing  men  is  capable  of  perverting  to  the 
worst  uses  any  law,  however  carefully  drawn;  yet  we 
may  do  something  by  legislation  to  protect  the  rights  of 
the  people  and  make  it  more  difficult  for  dishonest  and 
partisan  officers  to  work  out  a  bad  result  from  a  good  law. 

So  far  as  the  bills  that  we  have  been  considering  con- 
template the  scheme  of  electing  the  Police  Board,  we 
question  their  utility.  Too  many  officers  are  already 
elected  on  the  general  ticket.  There  should  be  more  power 
conferred  upon  the  mayor,  rather  than  less,  and  he  should 
be  held  responsible  for  his  appointees. 

In  our  judgment  the  efficiency  of  the  Police  Commis- 
sioners would  be  weakened  by  subjecting  them  periodi- 
cally to  a  partisan  contest.  It  would  be  well  to  pass  a  law 
forbidding  any  officer  or  official  of  the  Police  Department 
to  collect  or  pay,  directly  or  indirectly,  any  political  as- 
sessment or  money  for  any  political  purpose  whatever. 

The  Civil  Service  Law  should  be  amended  and  strength- 
ened, and  all  persons  seeking  to  enter  the  police  service 
should  be  freely  allowed  to  offer  themselves  for  examina- 
tion, irrespective  of  political  opinions  or  official  favor.  So 


230  POLICE  LEGISLATION 

long  as  men  secure  appointments  on  the  police  force  by 
what  is  popularly  known  as  "  a  pull,"  or  through  the  influ- 
ence of  politicians,  the  character  and  efficiency  of  the 
police  will  be  lowered. 

The  committee,  therefore,  recommend  the  adoption  of 
the  following  resolutions : 

Resolved,  That  this  club  is  opposed  at  this  time  to  all 
mandatory  legislation  requiring  the  Police  Commissioners 
to  be  constituted  of  persons  of  different  political  faith. 

Resolved,  That  the  efficiency  of  the  Police  Department 
would  be  greatly  promoted  by  a  single  head,  if  there  were 
adequate  means  of  securing  the  appointment  of  a  man 
who  would  administer  the  affairs  of  the  department  re- 
gardless of  political  affiliations;  but  in  view  of  the  im- 
probability, amounting  almost  to  a  certainty,  that  such  an 
appointment  could  not  be  secured,  we  do  not  recommend 
a  single-headed  commission. 

Resolved)  That  we  are  in  favor  of  the  passage  of  the 
Assembly  Bill  No.  456,  introduced  on  February  1,  1894, 
by  Mr.  Sheffield,  increasing  the  power  of  the  superin- 
tendent of  the  police,  as  tending  to  increase  the  efficiency 
of  the  executive  branch  of  the  Police  Department. 

Resolved,  That  we  favor  the  passage  of  a  judiciously 
prepared  law  which  should  remove  from  the  control  of  the 
Police  Department  the  Bureau  of  Elections,  and  create 
a  separate,  non-partisan  bureau. 

Your  committee  also  recommend  the  adoption  of  the 
following  resolutions : 

Resolved,  That  a  law  should  be  enacted  transferring  the 
auditing  of  all  accounts  of  the  Police  Department  to  the 
Department  of  Finance  of  the  city  of  New  York. 


POLICE  LEGISLATION  231 

Resolved,  That  legislation  directed  toward  the  enfran- 
chisement of  the  Police  Department  from  all  political 
activity  and  influences  should  be  sought;  and  that  the 
rules  of  the  civil  service,  so  far  as  applicable  to  that  de- 
partment, should  be  strictly  and  impartially  enforced. 

New  York,  February  17,  1894. 


MUNICIPAL  LEGISLATION 

Your  committee,  at  the  outset,  congratulate  the  club 
and  the  country  on  the  splendid  results  of  the  last  gen- 
eral election.  In  the  presence  of  business  depression  and 
gloomy  forebodings  the  country  entered  upon  the  memor- 
able contest  with  a  most  satisfactory  result.  The  power 
of  the  people  to  rectify  all  the  evils  of  our  complicated 
system  of  government  has  been  demonstrated.  It  only 
remains  for  the  standard-bearers  who  have  been  selected 
to  complete  the  work. 

Great  as  has  been  the  success  in  the  election,  it  should 
be  borne  in  mind  that  the  greater  work  of  securing  the 
fruits  of  that  election  is  still  before  us.  It  is  the  duty  of 
this  club,  in  every  possible  way,  to  sustain  and  give  en- 
couraging support  to  all  those  who  are  engaged  in  com- 
pleting the  reform  so  auspiciously  begun.  It  is  the  work 
of  the  future  to  uproot  and  exterminate  the  wrongs  of 
the  past  that  now  confronts  us. 

It  is  to  this  important  matter  that  we  desire  to  call  the 
attention  of  the  members  of  this  club  and  the  citizens  gen- 
erally. The  task  of  reforming  our  municipal  government 
is  herculean,  and  requires  the  highest  wisdom  and  best 
abilities  of  the  citizens  of  the  city. 

A  review  of  the  evils  that  have  existed  will  give  point 
and  force  to  the  suggestions  that  we  make  in  this  report 
for  future  action. 

Municipal  government  in  all  the  large  cities  of  this 
Union  has  generally  been  perverted  for  plunder.  The 


MUNICIPAL  LEGISLATION  233 

fathers  of  the  republic  founded  a  system  of  free  govern- 
ment by  the  people  and  for  the  people.  The  ideal  that 
they  projected  was  as  near  perfect  as  anything  yet  devel- 
oped in  the  history  of  civilization.  Yet,  strangely  enough, 
the  system  has  often  been  a  dismal  failure  in  municipal 
affairs.  Many  attempts  have  heretofore  been  made  to 
rectify  the  evil  and  to  lead  the  people  out  of  the  clutches 
of  the  plunderers  who  have  seized  and  held  municipal 
governments  for  their  private  gain.  Many  men  have 
been  led  to  give  up  in  despair  and  say  that  the  American 
system,  as  applied  to  cities,  is  a  failure.  They  have  often 
declared  that  the  evil  is  of  such  a  nature  that  it  cannot  be 
eradicated.  In  all  other  respects  the  American  system 
has  worked  reasonably  well,  and  with  as  little  fraud  and 
as  little  friction  as  pertain  to  any  system,  taking  human 
nature  as  it  is. 

The  questions  presented  are :  "  Is  the  foul  blot  of 
municipal  fraud  and  municipal  bad  government  so  deeply 
seated  that  it  must  remain  forever?  Is  it  beyond  the 
reach  of  intelligence,  virtue,  and  integrity  ? "  If  so,  this 
cancerous  growth  upon  the  body  politic  will  ultimately 
and  surely  undermine  our  whole  system  of  government. 
We  are  not  among  those  who  believe  the  evil,  gigantic 
as  it  is,  beyond  cure. 

The  scope  and  purpose  of  this  report  are  to  deal  with 
the  evil  in  the  city  of  New  York.  In  the  presence  of  all 
that  has  so  far  been  developed  by  the  investigation  of  the 
Lexow  Committee,  the  great  work  remains  still  to  be  per- 
formed. The  methods  and  errors  of  the  past  should  be 
studied  as  beacon  lights  to  save  us  from  disaster  in  the 
future. 

The  chief  head  and  front  of  the  offender  in  this  munici- 
pality has  been  a  benevolent  organization  known  as  the 


234  MUNICIPAL  LEGISLATION 

Tammany  Society.  The  organization,  in  its  inception, 
was  never  intended  for  the  purpose  to  which  it  has  been 
debased.  It  has  assumed  to  itself  the  functions  of  guiding 
and  organizing  the  political  movements  of  the  Democratic 
party  in  this  city.  Justly  considered,  in  its  action  it  has 
performed  none  of  the  proper  functions  of  a  political 
party.  Its  methods  have  not  been  democratic,  but  auto- 
cratic. Its  results  have  been  plunder,  fraud,  and  the  de- 
basement of  the  American  system  of  government.  It  has 
been  simply  and  only,  so  far  as  its  managers  are  con- 
cerned, a  business  corporation  or  combination  of  individ- 
uals for  private  gain  and  public  plunder. .  It  has  seized 
upon  all  the  offices  of  the  city,  and  has  controlled, 
through  legal  machinery,  the  magnificent  annual  resources 
of  the  city,  amounting  to  over  $34,000,000.  It  has  de- 
rived an  enormous  revenue  from  its  system  of  assessments 
upon  officers  and  employees  of  the  city,  from  the  highest 
to  the  lowest.  It  is  hard  to  account  for  the  suddenly 
acquired  wealth  of  many  of  the  managers  of  that  organiza- 
tion upon  any  other  theory  than  that  there  has  been  in 
vogue  a  relentless  system  of  plundering  the  city,  the  citi- 
zens, and  the  employees  of  the  government. 

To  administer  the  trust  of  disposing  of  revenue  amount- 
ing to  $34,000,000  requires  the  agency  of  the  highest 
order  of  talent  and  integrity.  The  charge  is  not  that  all 
of  this  money  is  misappropriated.  The  gravamen  of  the 
charge  is  that  some  of  it  is  misappropriated.  It  is  in 
vain  for  Tammany  magnates  to  point  out  any  good  work 
they  do.  Tweed  and  his  fellow-conspirators  could  justly 
do  the  same  thing.  The  demands  of  good  government  are 
that  all,  not  a  part,  of  the  public  money  shall  be  properly 
appropriated,  with  the  same  integrity  with  which  well- 
conducted  private  enterprises  are  carried  on. 


MUNICIPAL  LEGISLATION  235 

The  Tammany  Society  has  aided  and  abetted  the  most 
gigantic  frauds  upon  the  ballot-box,  and  has  found  in  these 
frauds  its  buttress  and  bulwark.  Wherever  vice  is  reek- 
ing and  ignorance  prevails,  there  it  has  found  the  chief 
support  of  its  organization.  In  proportion  as  vice,  crime, 
and  ignorance  prevail  in  the  most  degraded  portion  of  our 
city,  in  the  same  proportion  has  the  strength  of  Tammany 
increased. 

The  people  have  determined  to  throw  off  this  disgrace- 
ful burden.  No  man  of  intelligence  who  has  given  the 
subject  the  slightest  thought  has  ever  doubted  that  the 
vast  majority  of  the  electors  of  this  city  are  honest  and 
desire  a  clean,  able,  and  honest  government,  and  that  they 
have  the  power,  whenever  they  choose  to  exercise  it,  to 
procure  this  result.  One  of  the  chief  causes  why  the  city 
has  been  so  long  enthralled  is  because  party  managers  on 
both  sides  have  insisted  that  in  municipal  affairs  the  party 
organization  should  remain  intact.  One  of  the  favorite 
arguments  that  has  been  used  and  repeated  time  and 
again  in  both  parties  has  been  that  it  is  necessary  for 
the  good  of  the  party  to  keep  the  same  party  organization 
in  city  matters ;  that  to  abandon  the  national  and  State 
party  organizations  in  city  matters  for  the  sake  of  the  city 
and  support  a  reform  city  ticket  would  demoralize  the 
respective  parties  on  national  and  State  issues.  We  think 
this  is  entirely  fallacious  and  will  not  bear  examination. 
Neither  the  Eepublican  nor  the  Democratic  party  by  it- 
self, as  a  national  or  a  State  party,  exists  or  can  live  one 
minute  for  the  benefit  of  the  city  of  New  York.  National 
questions  and  State  questions  are  in  no  way  related  to  or 
dependent  upon  the  character  and  integrity  of  the  city 
government.  Men  may  justly  differ  in  their  views  upon 
the  tariff,  upon  currency,  upon  banking,  upon  silver,  upon 


236  MUNICIPAL  LEGISLATION 

interstate  commerce,  upon  foreign  relations,  and  upon  a 
multitude  of  questions  that  pertain  to  the  national  parties, 
and  yet  may  unite  for  the  purpose  of  a  good  city  govern- 
ment. It  is  not  easy  to  see  what  connection  there  is  be- 
tween the  tariff,  the  affairs  of  the  navy,  and  other  kindred 
subjects,  and  the  building  of  docks,  opening  and  paving 
of  streets,  extending  the  waterworks  of  the  city,  putting 
out  its  fires,  or  policing  the  city,  and  other  matters  per- 
taining to  the  government  of  the  corporation.  We  see 
no  reason  why  men  should  surrender  their  personal  views 
on  national  and  State  issues  because  they  cooperate  for 
a  pure  city  government.  In  many  respects  the  city  of 
New  York  is  like  a  business  corporation  created  for  the 
benefit  of  the  citizens,  and,  like  such  corporations,  should 
be  governed  on  business  principles,  although  it  is  on  a 
larger  scale.  This  analogy  is  not  entirely  true,  but  very 
nearly  so. 

It  is  well  known  that  all  business  organizations  are  con- 
trolled and  managed  by  men  of  different  political  views. 
In  selecting  these  men  the  question  is  never  asked  as  to 
their  views  on  national  questions,  but  they  are  selected 
for  their  fitness  to  discharge  the  duties  to  be  performed. 
In  the  respective  corporations  men  cooperate  and  co-work 
with  the  perfect  understanding  that  they  have  diverse 
political  views  and  that  they  surrender  none  of  them  by 
such  cooperation.  The  employees  of  these  institutions  are 
never  selected  because  of  their  connection  with  one  party 
or  the  other,  or  by  reason  of  their  efficiency  as  party  man- 
agers or  "  heelers."  The  sole  and  only  question  is  and 
should  be,  "  Are  they  competent  and  qualified  to  perform 
and  discharge  the  duties  of  the  position  in  the  corporation 
that  employs  them  ?  "  The  corporation  of  the  city  of  New 
York,  as  a  business  corporation,  should  be  run  and  man- 


MUNICIPAL  LEGISLATION  287 

aged   upon   the    same   principles    on   which   other   well- 
managed  corporations  are  conducted. 

The  great  experiment  of  attempting  to  manage  this 
city  on  a  non-partisan  basis  is  about  to  be  entered  upon. 
In  view  of  the  failure  of  all  past  methods,  the  people  have 
decreed  by  their  vote  that  this  new  experiment  shall  be 
tried.  The  standard-bearers  have  been  selected  with  the 
distinct  pledge  that  the  experiment  shall  be  attempted  in 
good  faith.  It  is  distinctly  understood  that  no  man  by 
cooperating  in  this  new  method  of  administering  the  af- 
fairs of  the  city  surrenders  or  abates  in  any  way  or 
manner  his  affiliations  with  the  political  party  of  his 
choice;  that  upon  national  and  State  issues  every  citizen 
may  take  his  position  in  and  align  himself  with  the  party 
of  his  choice,  and  his  reason  for  doing  so  or  his  activity  in 
that  party  are  not  to  be  subjects  of  question  within  the  do- 
main of  the  reform  party  for  city  government.  It  is  be- 
lieved by  all  good  citizens  that  such  an  administration  of 
the  affairs  of  the  cities  will  remove  the  foul  blot  of  corrupt 
municipal  government  from  American  institutions,  and  will 
demonstrate  the  wisdom  of  our  fathers  in  establishing  the 
basis  of  our  government  as  they  did.  It  will  no  longer  be 
said  that  in  all  other  respects  the  system  was  rightly  con- 
ceived and  properly  adopted,  but  that  it  is  not  adapted  to 
municipal  government.  The  occupation  of  men  who  follow 
politics  for  a  business  in  municipalities  will  be  gone.  Both 
parties,  as  national  and  State  parties,  will  remain  in  the 
field,  contending  for  the  principles  they  espouse,  and 
will  succeed  or  fail  as  they  shall  succeed  or  fail  in  im- 
pressing their  respective  views  upon  the  voters.  Any 
attempt  to  build  up  a  party  machine  for  the  benefit  of 
either  party  out  of  the  great  reform  movement  which 
has  been  so  auspiciously  inaugurated  in  the  city  of 


238  MUNICIPAL  LEGISLATION 

New  York  will  surely  recoil  upon  the  heads  of  those  who 
undertake  it. 

The  attempt  to  have  a  municipal  government  upon  a 
non-partisan  basis  has  been  demanded  by  the  people.  The 
pledge  of  the  standard-bearers  chosen  was  given  to  the 
people  that  they  should  have  such  a  government.  The 
experiment  ought,  in  good  faith  and  with  persistent  effort, 
to  be  made.  Party  managers,  as  such,  whose  purpose  is 
to  gain  advantage  for  a  party  rather  than  to  secure  a  good 
administration,  must  be  made  to  stand  back  and  keep 
their  hands  off  this  government.  No  party  can  success- 
fully nourish  and  for  a  long  time  be  successful  which  is 
not  based  upon  integrity  of  administration  as  its  chief 
cornerstone.  It  may  secure  temporary  success,  but  its 
overthrow  is  sure  to  follow.  The  best  possible  basis  for 
the  success  of  a  party  in  a  great  municipality  is  to  show 
ability  to  govern  the  city  with  a  clean,  honest  purpose.  A 
success  so  won  will  be  abiding  and  invigorating. 

At  the  outset  the  administration  of  Mayor  Strong  is 
handicapped  by  the  presence  in  the  municipal  government 
of  a  body  of  office-holders  who  have  been  placed  in  their 
respective  positions  by  the  abhorrent  influence  so  familiar 
to  the  people.  The  election  of  last  November  in  this  city 
better  never  have  been  won  unless  it  be  followed  by 
legislation  such  as  will  pave  the  way  to  the  inauguration 
of  genuine  reform.  The  legislature  should  pass,  at  the 
earliest  practicable  day,  a  bill  giving  the  mayor  of  this 
city  the  power  of  removal  and  appointment  to  all  offices 
fairly  within  the  scope  of  his  duties.  Any  failure  to 
pass  such  a  bill,  or  any  tampering  with  this  measure  by 
any  one  in  the  supposed  interests  of  persons  or  parties, 
will  receive  the  severe  condemnation  of  the  citizens.  The 
public  are  in  no  mood  to  be  trifled  with  in  this  matter. 


MUNICIPAL  LEGISLATION  239 

They  are  determined  that  the  incoming  administration 
shall  have  an  opportunity  to  redeem  its  pledges ;  that  no 
excuses  shall  be  made  or  accepted  for  a  failure  to  do  so. 
Mayor  Strong  is  powerless  to  accomplish  much  in  the  way 
of  reform  without  legislative  aid;  and  that  aid  should 
come  speedily,  without  conditions  or  limitations  that  can 
by  any  possibility  embarrass  the  execution  of  the  purpose 
declared  by  the  people  to  have  a  reform  administration. 

As  a  club  we  have  unbounded  faith  in  the  integrity  of 
purpose  of  Mayor  Strong  to  fulfil  all  his  pledges  and  give 
the  city  a  genuine  non-partisan  business  administration. 
Republicans  as  we  are,  devoted  to  the  principles  of  that 
party,  believing  that  the  prosperity  of  the  country  de- 
pends upon  the  success  of  our  principles,  we  see  clearly 
that  this  city's  true  interests  will  be  promoted  if  a  good 
government  shall  result  from  this  great  reform  movement. 
Any  other  seeming  success  would  be  no  success,  but  a 
dismal  failure. 

No  man  in  this  city  was  ever  confronted  with  a  greater 
task  than  that  which  confronts  the  mayor.  With  all  con- 
fidence in  his  integrity  of  purpose  and  his  ability  to  exe- 
cute the  great  commission  which  has  been  laid  upon  him, 
we  should  never  forget  our  duty  as  citizens  of  rendering 
him  at  all  times  our  moral  support  and  counsel  on  the 
lines  laid  down  for  him  and  accepted  by  him  during  the 
last  election. 

It  does  not  require  the  inspiration  of  a  prophet  to  pre- 
dict a  great  triumph  for  the  mayor  if  he  shall  adhere  at 
all  times  to  the  pledge  he  has  given,  and  the  intelligent 
citizens  of  this  city  should  not  falter  in  their  steady  sup- 
port of  him  in  his  great  work. 

The  fangs  of  Tammany's  misrule  have  fastened  too 
deeply  upon  the  body  politic  to  be  withdrawn  without 


240  MUNICIPAL  LEGISLATION 

drastic  measures.  There  is  great  reason  to  fear  that  the 
sappers  and  miners  in  politics  are  already  at  work  destroy- 
ing the  foundation  of  the  structure  of  municipal  reform 
that  the  people  have  decreed  shall  be  built. 

There  are  many  proposed  measures  of  reform  of  press- 
ing necessity  that  we  do  not  discuss,  among  them  the 
reorganization  of  the  Police  Department.  The  considera- 
tion of  that  question  should  be  kept  in  abeyance  until  the 
report  of  the  Lexow  Committee  shall  be  made.  At  the 
present  moment  the  bill  giving  the  mayor  power  to  re- 
move from  office  and  appoint  to  the  same  should  receive 
the  immediate  and  early  attention  of  the  legislature,  as  a 
measure  essential  to  the  further  progress  of  the  work  of 
reform  that  is  before  the  people  of  this  city. 

We,  therefore,  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following 
resolutions : 

Resolved,  That  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York 
be  respectfully  and  earnestly  requested  to  give  its  early 
attention  to  the  passage  of  a  bill  providing  for  the  mayor's 
power  of  removal  of  present  incumbents  in  office.  Such 
a  bill  is  demanded  by  the  best  sentiment  of  the  city,  and 
its  passage  should  not  be,  and  cannot  rightfully  be,  ham- 
pered or  embarrassed  by  any  considerations  of  party  expe- 
diency. The  needs  of  the  city  in  this  matter  are  paramount 
to  all  other  considerations. 

Resolved,  That  we  heartily  approve  the  recommenda- 
tion in  Governor  Morton's  message  that  prompt  action  be 
taken  by  the  legislature  upon  this  important  measure. 

New  York,  January  3,  1895. 

NOTE. — A  portion  of  this  report  is  taken  from  a  former  report 
not  adopted  by  the  committee. 


A  PKOPOSED  BILL  ON  COMPULSORY 
EDUCATION 

This  bill  purports  to  be  in  favor  of  compulsory  educa- 
tion and  in  support  of  the  common  schools. 

Nothing  is  more  important  or  desirable  to  the  preserva- 
tion of  our  institutions  than  the  universal  dissemination 
of  knowledge ;  and,  as  a  means  to  that  end,  the  most  vigor- 
ous support  of  the  public  schools  is  needed,  consistent  with 
individual  liberty.  It  is  believed  that  every  member  of 
this  club  is  a  stanch  supporter  of  the  common-school  sys- 
tem, in  common  with  the  great  body  of  the  citizens,  and 
would  do  nothing  to  weaken  its  hold  upon  public  affec- 
tion or  impair  in  any  way  its  usefulness. 

The  proposed  bill  is  so  extraordinary  in  its  provisions 
as  to  require  a  careful  and  critical  examination.  It  in- 
corporates within  it  certain  principles  and  methods  of 
action  that  are  entirely  inconsistent  with  individual  liberty 
and  the  sacred  rights  of  the  family.  The  bill  seems  to  be, 
in  some  measure,  a  substitute  for  the  act  passed  in  1874, 
but  with  additional  powers  and  limitations  that  make  it 
a  dangerous  and  vicious  bill. 

The  first  section  provides  that  every  parent  and  guard- 
ian shall  cause  all  children  between  the  ages  of  seven 
and  eleven  to  attend  some  public  school  in  the  city  or 
school  district  in  which  such  child  shall  reside,  or  some 
school  other  than  a  public  school,  and  in  which  at  least 
certain  common-school  branches  are  taught. 

The  second  section  provides  that  for  every  neglect  of 
16 


342      A  PROPOSED  BILL  ON  COMPULSORY  EDUCATION 

the  duty  thus  imposed  in  the  first  section  the  guilty  person 
commits  a  misdemeanor  and  is  subject  to  fine  and  im- 
prisonment therefor. 

The  third  section  does  provide  that  a  child  may  be 
taught  at  home,  but  such  teaching  must  be  by  a  "  teacher 
duly  qualified  under  the  laws  of  this  State,  or  approved  by 
a  school  commissioner  or  by  a  superintendent  of  schools, 
by  whatever  name  known,  in  a  city  of  the  State." 

Section  15  authorizes  the  employment  of  town  con- 
stables to  aid  in  executing  the  provisions  of  the  act  and 
provides  for  payment  of  their  fees. 

The  seventeenth  section  provides  that  the  school  authori- 
ties may  appoint  special  officers  to  discharge  the  duties  pro- 
vided in  certain  sections  of  this  act,  and  may  fix  fees  or 
salary  for  the  payment  of  the  same. 

There  are  various  other  sections  of  the  bill  that  would 
be  open  to  criticism,  but  the  limits  of  this  paper  render 
their  consideration  impossible. 

The  bill  invades  the  privacy  of  the  domestic  circle  and 
supersedes  the  authority  of  the  parent  in  the  education 
of  children  of  tender  age,  and  substitutes  therefor  persons 
authorized  by  act  of  the  legislature  to  discharge  these  deli- 
cate and  important  duties. 

Although  section  3  tolerates  education  in  the  family 
circle,  it  does  not  leave  that  to  the  choice  and  discretion  of 
the  parent,  but  provides  that  that  teaching  shall  be  under 
the  supervision  and  control  of  a  "  school  commissioner 
or  a  superintendent  of  schools,  by  whatever  name  known, 
in  a  city  of  this  State."  The  same  section  also  graciously 
provides  that,  in  case  a  child  is  taught  at  home,  the  instruc- 
tion in  the  branches  specified  in  the  bill  shall  be  at  least 
equivalent  to  that  given  in  the  public  schools. 

There  is  also  a  provision  that,  in  case  of  the  physical  or 


A  PROPOSED  BILL  ON  COMPULSORY  EDUCATION      243 

mental  condition  of  a  child  being  such  as  to  render  its 
attendance  at  school  inexpedient  or  impracticable,  a  physi- 
cian's certificate  may  remit  the  penalty. 

The  general  effect  of  the  bill  is  to  bring  all  matters  of 
education — whether  in  the  family  circle  or  in  public  or 
private  schools — under  the  supervision  of  school  superin- 
tendents or  school  commissioners.  The  neglect  of  the 
duty  of  educating  children  according  to  these  public  offi- 
cials is  made  a  misdemeanor.  This  bill  proceeds  upon  the 
theory  that  the  artificial  and  intangible  body  known  as 
"  the  government "  is  a  better  guardian  of  children  than 
those  to  whom  they  owe  their  existence,  and  that  the 
most  ignorant  and  incompetent  public-school  teacher  in 
the  State  is  qualified  to  train  any  young  child,  while  the 
most  refined,  intelligent,  virtuous,  and  loving  mother  of 
that  child,  if  for  any  reason  she  fail  to  obtain  the  consent 
of  the  school  authorities,  is  not  competent  for  that  pur- 
pose. It  calls  for  interference  between  parent  and  child 
at  precisely  that  tender  age  when  the  character  of  the  lat- 
ter is  unformed,  and  when  it  is  in  the  most  need  of 
parental  guidance  and  teaching.  An  attempt  to  enforce 
the  provisions  of  this  bill  will  be  likely  to  lead  to  violence 
and  breaches  of  the  peace. 

However  desirable  general  education  may  be,  it  never 
can  be  desirable  to  invade  the  rights  of  parents  and  the 
sanctity  of  the  family  in  the  manner  proposed  by  this 
act,  under  the  guise  of  public  instruction. 

The  bill  specifies  certain  fundamental  subjects  of  edu- 
cation as  essential  to  fit  a  child  as  a  member  of  the  State. 
True  education  consists  in  the  harmonious  and  symmetri- 
cal development  of  mind  and  character,  and  both  should 
proceed  together,  as  far  as  practicable.  In  most  cases  no 
one  is  as  likely  to  know  the  character  of  children  so  well  as 


244      A  PROPOSED  BILL  ON  COMPULSORY  EDUCATION 

parents,  and  only  in  exceptional  cases  should  be  taken  from 
them  the  absolute  right  to  determine  the  education  and  the 
kind  of  education  they  shall  receive.  The  object  of  the 
public-school  system  is  to  aid  parents  in  the  education  of 
their  children,  and  not  to  override  the  parental  control  or 
usurp  its  place.  The  bill  reduces  parents  to  the  humiliat- 
ing position  of  being  obliged  to  obtain  the  consent  of  the 
school  authorities  before  they  can  teach  their  own  chil- 
dren or  select  a  teacher  for  them  at  home,  and  to  the  risk 
of  fine  and  imprisonment  if  they  act  without  such  consent. 
Such  legislation  as  this  tends  to  destroy  individuality,  and 
substitutes  therefor  State  control  in  matters  that  should 
always  belong  to  the  individual.  It  is  a  long  step  in  the 
direction  of  Socialism,  where  all  property  and  all  indi- 
viduals are  placed  under  the  dictation  of  the  government. 

Dr.  Kittridge,  of  this  city,  recently  said :  "  The  home  is 
the  grandest  university  in  the  world,  and  to  its  wise  and 
religious  education  we  owe,  more  than  to  any  educating 
influence,  the  scholars  and  patriots  and  benefactors  of  our 
race."  This  we  believe  to  be  a  true  statement  of  the  value 
of  the  home  and  of  home  influence ;  and  whatever  evils 
may  exist  touching  the  education  of  certain  classes  of  our 
citizens,  those  evils  cannot  by  any  possibility  justify  the 
subversion  of  the  homes  and  home  control  of  children, 
which  serve  to  lay  the  foundation  for  all  that  is  best  and 
holiest  in  our  lives  and  our  country. 

The  tendency  of  this  bill,  if  enforced,  will  be  to  weaken 
parental  authority  over  the  children,  and  divide  respon- 
sibility between  the  parents  and  the  State  authorities  for 
their  education.  It  is  in  the  line  of  the  most  vicious  class 
of  legislation  with  which  we  are  afflicted — that  of  State 
interference  and  control  in  matters  with  which  the  State 
of  right  ought  not  to  interfere.  However  paternal  the 


A  PROPOSED  BILL  ON  COMPULSORY  EDUCATION      245 

government  may  be,  in  this  field  it  should  keep  its  hands 
off.  Whatever  may  be  said  in  favor  of  enforced  educa- 
tion of  those  whose  education  is  entirely  and  grossly 
neglected,  nothing  can  justify  the  public  scrutiny  and 
control  of  family  education  as  contemplated  by  this  act. 
We,  therefore,  submit  the  following : 

Resolved,  That  the  Union  League  Club  deems  this  bill, 
in  the  particulars  mentioned  in  this  report,  a  menacing 
invasion  of  the  sacred  rights  of  the  family  in  the  matter  of 
the  education  of  children,  and  we  request  the  members  of 
the  legislature  to  so  vote  as  to  defeat  the  passage  of  the 
bill. 

JSTew  York,  January  28,  1890. 


The  Committee  on  Political  Reform  respectfully  report 
as  follows  : 

At  the  commencement  of  the  current  year  the  country- 
had  just  passed  through  the  most  important  general  elec- 
tion that  had  taken  place  since  1860.  The  principles  of 
the  Republican  party  during  the  canvass  had  been  dis- 
cussed in  the  press  and  on  the  platform,  and  the  verdict 
of  the  people  had  been  taken  in  favor  of  Republican  prin- 
ciples in  national  affairs.  In  State  affairs,  in  this  State,  it 
was  a  divided  result,  the  Democracy  having  secured  the 
executive  and  State  offices,  while  the  Republican  party 
secured  the  legislature. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  public  was  weary  of 
political  discussions,  and  the  committee  deemed  it  advis- 
able not  to  make  many  reports. 

The  club  referred  no  questions  to  your  committee  for 
its  consideration. 

During  the  winter  of  1889  there  was  pending  in  the 
legislature  the  important  question  of  prison  labor.  On 
January  29th  this  committee  made  a  carefully  considered 
report  on  that  subject,  which  was  adopted  by  the  club. 
Some  of  the  members  of  the  committee  took  an  active  part 
in  promoting  the  passage  of  the  Prison  Labor  Bill  of  last 
winter.  Late  in  the  spring  of  1889  tl  e  chairman  of  the 
committee,  Hon.  Whitelaw  Reid,  resigned  his  chairman- 
ship, he  having  been  appointed  to  the  honorable  position 


REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE  ON  POLITICAL  REFORM      247 

of  minister  to  the  republic  of  France.  The  committee 
take  this  occasion  to  record  their  high  appreciation  of  his 
ability  and  uniform  courtesy.  His  learning  and  varied 
experience  made  him  a  sagacious  and  safe  counsellor. 

In  October  the  committee  elected  a  chairman  to  fill  the 
vacancy. 

In  December  a  report  was  made  in  favor  of  high  license 
which  was  adopted  by  the  club. 

Herewith  is  submitted  a  report  on  ballot  reform.  This 
reform  is  believed  to  be  one  of  the  most  pressing  and  im- 
portant of  the  day,  and  no  occasion  should  be  omitted  to 
help  it  forward. 

The  committee  are  impressed  with  the  idea  that  all  great 
movements  and  reforms  are  carried  forward  by  the  re- 
peated and  persistent  support  of  the  friends  of  the  meas- 
ures. It  has  required  constant  effort  for  centuries  to  bring 
the  world  to  its  present  state  of  morals  and  civilization. 
This  club  is  committed  by  its  history  and  its  articles  of 
association  to  reform  measures.  Its  influence  will  be  of 
little  value  if  it  fails  to  discuss  these  reforms  fearlessly 
and  persistently.  All  questions  that  greatly  move  the 
people  and  that  finally  result  in  practical  good  need  to  be 
presented  from  time  to  time  in  the  various  lights  in  which 
such  questions  can  be  viewed.  The  committee  have  acted 
upon  what  they  understood  to  be  the  desire  of  the  club,  and 
presented  as  briefly  and  sharply  as  it  could  only  important 
public  questions. 

Various  subjects  have  been  brought  before  the  commit- 
tee, and  are  now  under  consideration,  but  no  reports  have 
yet  been  agreed  upon. 

New  York,  January,  9,  1890. 


KEPOKT    OF   THE 
COMMITTEE  ON  POLITICAL  KEFORM 

The  Committee  on  Political  Reform  respectfully  sub- 
mits the  following  report : 

Various  subjects  have  been  considered  by  your  com- 
mittee within  the  past  year,  although  but  three  reports 
have  been  brought  before  the  club  during  that  time.  The 
committee  have  been  mindful  of  the  desire  of  the  club 
not  to  be  asked  to  express  its  opinion  except  upon  matters 
of  general  importance.  It  has  recognized  the  repeated 
declarations  of  the  plub  that  it  is  a  Republican  club,  and 
that  all  its  actions  taken  upon  public  questions  shall  be 
in  harmony  with  the  doctrines  and  policy  of  that  political 
party.  The  principles  of  that  party  having  been  adopted 
by  the  country  at  the  last  presidential  election,  it  was  not 
deemed  wise  or  necessary  during  the  past  year  to  restate 
them  before  the  club.  The  last  congressional  elections 
having  shown  an  apparent  reversal  of  the  former  decision 
by  the  country,  there  will  probably  be  a  renewal  of  the 
discussion  of  these  principles,  in  which  discussion  this 
club  will  no  doubt  take  a  prominent  part. 

It  is  not  the  province  of  this  committee,  in  its  annual 
report,  to  discuss  the  causes  and  influences  that  led  to  our 
defeat,  but  this  committee  deems  this  a  fitting  occasion  to 
declare  its  firm  faith  in  the  doctrines  of  the  party,  and 
its  belief  that  the  country  will  again  declare  itself  in  its 
favor,  when  the  misrepresentations  and  the  false  presenta- 


REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE  ON  POLITICAL  REFORM      249 

tions  of  its  policy  and  the  effects  of  its  policy  are  exposed 
and  understood. 

At  the  January  meeting  this  committee  made  a  report 
in  favor  of  the  Saxton  Ballot-Reform  Bill,  which  report 
was  unanimously  adopted  by  the  club.  The  act,  as  finally 
passed  by  the  legislature  of  New  York,  was  not  all  that 
was  desired  by  those  who  were  foremost  in  this  important 
reform.  Yet  it  is  believed  that  great  and  desirable  ad- 
vance has  been  made  in  this  matter. 

At  the  February  meeting  the  committee  made  a  report 
upon  a  bill  then  pending  before  the  legislature,  entitled, 
"An  Act  to  Secure  to  Children  the  Benefits  of  an  Ele- 
mentary Education,  and  Making  an  Appropriation  There- 
for." It  was  with  great  reluctance  that  the  committee 
reported  against  some  of  the  provisions  of  this  bill,  fearing 
that  it  might  be  construed  as  opposition  to  the  common- 
school  system  that  is  so  important  to  the  country.  The 
bill  was  deemed  to  be  so  fundamentally  wrong,  in  provid- 
ing a  scheme  that  invaded  the  sacred  rights  of  the  home 
and  family,  that  the  committee  felt  constrained  to  report 
against  it.  The  report  was  adopted  by  the  club,  and  a 
copy  of  the  same  sent  to  each  member  of  the  legislature. 
It  is  believed  that  the  report  had  considerable  influence 
in  defeating  the  objectionable  legislation. 

At  the  March  meeting  the  committee  reported  in  favor 
of  a  more  liberal  appropriation  by  Congress  for  the  work 
of  the  Civil  Service  Commission.  This  club  has  always 
been  a  stanch  supporter  of  the  doctrine  of  civil-service 
reform.  It  has  at  times  criticized  the  pretenses  of  those 
who  use  the  name  of  civil-service  reform  for  mere  parti- 
san advantage,  but  has  always  cast  whatever  influence  it 
may  possess  on  the  side  of  fitness  and  integrity  as  essential 
qualities  for  official  positions.  It  is  believed  that  this  re- 


260      REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE  ON  POLITICAL  REFORM 

form  has  been  heretofore  greatly  aided  by  this  club,  and 
that  hereafter,  on  all  proper  occasions,  it  will  be  found  in 
the  front  ranks  of  its  supporters  and  defenders. 

Among  the  events  of  the  year  the  committee  reports, 
with  unfeigned  sorrow,  the  death  of  one  of  its  members, 
Mr.  Franklin  A.  Paddock.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the 
committee  five  years.  For  a  portion  of  that  time  he  was 
in  poor  health  and  unable  to  attend  the  meetings  of  the 
committee.  When  able  to  do  so,  he  was  constant  in  his 
attendance,  and  was  an  able  and  conscientious  member. 
In  the  close  intimacy  of  the  committee  room  we  all  learned 
to  respect  and  admire  him.  A  memorial  of  Mr.  Paddock 
was  prepared  by  one  of  his  associates  and  entered  in  the 
minutes,  a  copy  of  which  memorial  has  been  sent  to  each 
member  of  the  club. 

New  York,  January  8, 1891. 


KEPOET  OF  THE 
COMMITTEE  ON  POLITICAL  KEEOKM 

The  Committee  on  Political  Reform  respectfully  sub- 
mit the  following  report : 

The  committee  have  held  the  usual  regular  monthly  ses- 
sions, but  have  submitted  only  two  reports  for  the  action 
of  the  club.  Many  important  questions  have  been  con- 
sidered and  are  now  pending  before  it. 

The  deplorable  event  at  ~New  Orleans  startled  the  civil- 
ized world,  and  it  seems  fitting  that  this  club  should  con- 
tribute its  influence  on  the  side  of  that  almost  universal 
condemnation  of  that  event,  which  found  expression  in  all 
civilized  communities.  The  report  of  this  committee  on 
that  subject  was  adopted  on  the  9th  day  of  April  last.  It 
may  gratify  the  members  of  the  club  to  know  that  it  was 
quoted  and  commented  upon  extensively  in  this  country 
and  in  Europe.  The  comments,  except  in  the  Southern 
States,  were  generally  commendatory,  showing  that  the 
views  therein  expressed  were  those  approved  by  the  more 
thoughtful  writers  of  the  times.  In  that  report  it  was 
pointed  out  that  the  root  of  that  difficulty  was  to  be 
found  in  our  lax  laws  touching  ignorant  and  criminal 
immigration. 

On  the  14th  day  of  May  a  further  report  was  submitted, 
pointing  out  the  peril  to  our  institutions  from  the  almost 
criminal  neglect  of  the  judiciary  in  not  enforcing  the  pres- 
ent laws  when  naturalizing  immigrants,  many  of  whom 
are  totally  unfit  to  be  clothed  with  the  elective  franchise. 


252      REPORT  OP  COMMITTEE  ON  POLITICAL  REFORM 

In  this  report  it  was  recommended  that  a  petition  be  ex- 
tensively circulated  throughout  the  United  States,  asking 
Congress  to  change  the  naturalization  laws  so  as  to  throw 
greater  safeguards  around  the  elective  franchise.  This 
report  was  adopted  unanimously  by  the  club.  As  the  cir- 
culation of  this  petition  would  require  the  expenditure  of 
a  considerable  sum  of  money,  the  club  referred  the  ques- 
tion of  circulating  the  petition  to  the  Executive  Commit- 
tee. The  matter  thus  passed  out  of  the  hands  of  this  com- 
mittee, and  the  committee  are  not  advised  what  action,  if 
any,  was  taken  by  the  Executive  Committee.  It  is  proper 
to  state  that  recent  events  in  this  city,  just  prior  to  our 
late  election,  have  added  force  to  the  recommendations  in 
the  report,  and  are  illustrative  of  the  evils  and  inefficiency 
of  our  present  laws  as  now  administered  by  some  of  the 
judges.  Your  committee  find  no  occasion  to  abate  in  any 
manner  their  criticisms  upon  the  conduct  of  the  judiciary. 
This  subject  cannot  be  too  often  or  too  earnestly  pressed 
upon  the  attention  of  the  people.  This  committee  has  not 
deemed  it  wise,  up  to  this  time,  to  make  a  further  report 
on  these  all-important  questions  of  immigration  and  natur- 
alization, in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  general  government 
had  appointed  a  commission  to  visit  Europe  and  report  on 
the  subject  of  iir .migration.  It  is  hoped  that,  when  their 
report  is  made,  new  and  material  facts  will  be  brought  to 
light. 

This  club  was  organized  to  exert  influence  upon  the  gov- 
ernment and  build  up  and  sustain  a  sound  public  senti- 
ment in  favor  of  the  maintenance  of  the  same.  In  its 
inception  its  inspiration  was  patriotism  and  an  earnest 
desire  to  save  the  government  in  its  peril.  On  this  ques- 
tion its  record  is  one  of  which  every  member  is  proud.  In 
its  action  it  worked  earnestly  in  harmony  with  a  Repub- 


REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE   ON  POLITICAL  REFORM       253 

lican  administration.  When  the  war  ended,  the  club  con- 
tinued its  earnest  work  supporting  Republican  measures, 
and  has  continued  to  give  such  measures  its  hearty  sup- 
port up  to  this  time.  Its  national  reputation  has  been 
built  upon  its  political  action,  until  now  eminent  represen- 
tative Eepublicans  from  almost  every  Northern  State  are 
in  our  membership.  So  far  as  this  club  has  a  wide  reputa- 
tion at  this  time,  it  is  based  chiefly  on  its  political  char- 
acter. It  is  idle  to  refer  to  its  war  record  and  what  it 
accomplished  as  the  only  end  and  purpose  of  its  existence. 
Its  life  and  history  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century 
since  the  war  closed  are  a  constant  protest  against  any 
such  narrow  view.  The  club  is,  and  always  has  been,  a 
political  club,  with  views  upon  all  great  political  ques- 
tions. The  vitalizing  force  here  always  has  been  political 
action.  That  the  founders  of  the  club  contemplated  its 
continued  activity  in  the  political  field  is  shown  by  its 
adoption,  immediately  after  the  close  of  the  war,  in  1866, 
of  the  4th  article  of  association,  in  these  words :  "  It  shall 
be  the  duty  of  the  club  to  resist  and  expose  corruption 
and  promote  reform  in  our  national,  State,  and  municipal 
affairs,  and  to  elevate  the  idea  of  American  citizenship." 
It  would  be  difficult,  with  so  few  words,  to  choose  other 
words  that  would  open  as  wide  a  field  of  political  action. 
The  traditions  of  the  club  and  the  personnel  of  its  mem- 
bership point  with  unerring  certainty  to  the  lines  within 
which  political  action  should  be  taken  by  your  committee. 
A  political  club  must  bring  its  influence  to  bear  upon  a 
political  party,  to  accomplish  practical  results  in  any  free 
country.  This  is,  and  doubtless  will  remain,  a  Republican 
club.  Believing  that  this  is  a  true  statement  of  the  views 
of  a  vast  majority  of  its  members,  this  committee  have, 
without  hesitation  or  doubt,  when  occasion  has  called  for 


254      REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE  ON  POLITICAL  REFORM 

it,  sustained  Republican  measures  and  policy.  While  this 
club  is  distinctively  Republican,  it  is  not  by  any  means 
limited  to  questions  of  party  measures,  but  has  always 
taken  high  and  broad  grounds  upon  all  great  and  im- 
portant matters. 

This  committee  are  again  called  upon  to  report  the  death 
of  one  of  their  members,  Morris  M.  Budlong,  late  secre- 
tary of  this  committee,  who  fell  dead  on  the  morning  of 
the  30th  day  of  November,  1891,  while  in  the  discharge 
of  his  professional  duties.  He  was  a  useful  and  con- 
scientious member  of  the  committee,  and  his  loss  will  be 
greatly  felt  by  all  his  associates. 

New  York,  January  14,  1892. 


EEPOET  OF  THE 
COMMITTEE  ON  POLITICAL  REFORM 

The  Committee  on  Political  Reform  respectfully  sub- 
mits the  following  report : 

The  past  year  has  been  an  eventful  year  in  the  political 
history  of  this  country.  Your  committee  has  done  what 
it  could  to  place  this  club  on  record  upon  numerous  public 
questions,  in  accord  with  its  well-known  principles  and 
traditions.  The  club  has  long  stood  in  this  city  and  before 
the  country  as  an  exponent  of  the  essential  doctrines  and 
policy  of  the  Republican  party.  Your  committee  has,  to 
the  best  of  its  ability,  expounded  and  sustained  those 
doctrines  and  that  policy. 

At  the  general  election  in  1891  the  electors  of  this  State 
elected  a  Republican  Senate.  Soon  after  the  election, 
rumors  began  to  emanate  from  the  executive  chamber  at 
Albany  that  the  Democrats  would  secure  a  majority  of 
the  Senate.  So  well  founded  was  the  belief  that,  in  this 
State  at  least,  the  results  of  the  ballot-box  would  be  ac- 
cepted as  final,  and  not  be  questioned  or  defeated  by  any 
party,  that  no  great  uneasiness  was  felt  by  any  honest 
citizen.  The  claim  of  Democratic  success  was  looked  upon 
as  only  the  usual  claim  of  the  defeated  party  for  political 
effect.  It  was  not  easy  to  believe  that  the  chief  executive 
of  this  great  State,  David  B.  Hill,  had  actually  formed, 
and  intended  to  carry  out,  a  scheme  of  fraud  of  unparal- 
leled audacity  and  wickedness.  The  sense  of  security  in 
the  foundation  of  our  government  was  rudely  shaken  as 
the  great  conspiracy  gradually  developed  and  the  figure  of 
the  governor  of  the  State  came  into  view  as  the  great  con- 


256      REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE  ON  POLITICAL  REFORM 

spirator  in  a  fraud  that  ought  to  have  consigned  the  gover- 
nor and  all  those  engaged  in  it  to  everlasting  political 
infamy.  Your  committee  deemed  the  matter  of  so  grave 
import  that  this  club  should  record  its  earnest  protest 
against  the  fraud.  Accordingly,  your  committee  sub- 
mitted, at  the  March  meeting,  a  report  of  the  leading  facts 
of  the  case,  which  report  was  unanimously  adopted,  mak- 
ing a  record  here  of  the  views  of  this  body  on  the  great 
conspiracy  against  the  ballot-box.  As  a  corollary  of  this 
fraud  the  Democrats  in  Albany  introduced  a  bill,  which 
they  finally  passed,  destroying  the  non-partisan  character 
of  the  Boards  of  Inspectors  of  Election  in  this  city.  At 
the  April  meeting  your  committee  presented  a  statement 
of  the  dangerous  character  of  this  proposed  legislation, 
with  a  resolution  protesting  against  the  passage  of  this 
bill.  This  report  and  resolution  were  unanimously 
adopted  by  the  club.  Thus  the  record  of  this  club  is 
complete  against  these  two  great  crimes  against  the  purity 
of  the  ballot-box.  It  is  a  fact  to  cause  serious  reflections, 
that  the  state  of  public  sentiment  as  to  the  dangerous 
tendencies  of  such  political  crimes  is  so  low  that,  instead 
of  the  just  contempt  of  an  indignant  people  jealous  of 
their  rights  following  the  chief  conspirators  into  that  ob- 
scurity they  so  richly  deserve,  new  honors  are  heaped 
upon  them.  The  future  student  of  the  politics  of  these 
times  will  be  puzzled  to  find  out  by  what  logic  or  under 
what  strange  influences  the  purists  and  reformers,  with 
high-sounding  professions  of  a  desire  for  the  highest  ideals 
of  government,  could  constantly  ally  themselves  with  a 
party  with  such  a  record. 

At  the  October  meeting  your  committee  presented  a  re- 
port on  the  great  and  leading  question  of  protection,  which 
report  was  adopted  by  the  club.  The  record  and  history 


REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE  ON  POLITICAL  REFORM      257 

of  this  club  have  been  one  of  unfaltering  support  of  this 
important  and  beneficial  national  policy.  ~No  believer  in 
this  policy  can  have  his  belief  in  the  same  shaken  by  the 
temporary  defeat  which  we  have  sustained.  The  history 
of  the  country  shows  that  prosperity  has  always  attended 
it  when  its  fiscal  policy  has  been  framed  on  the  lines  of 
protection,  and  depression  and  distress  have  followed 
when  its  fiscal  policy  has  been  framed  on  the  lines  of  low 
tariff  or  free  trade.  Thirty  years  of  unparalleled  pros- 
perity is  the  record  made  by  the  Republican  policy.  Dur- 
ing that  time  a  new  generation  has  grown  up  who  has 
seen  fit  to  be  guided  by  theorists  rather  than  to  follow  the 
sure  lamp  of  experience.  Those  now  living  who  have  had 
experience  of  Democratic  administration  of  governmental 
financial  policy  are  comparatively  few.  If  the  Democratic 
party  applies  to  our  fiscal  policy  the  principles  it  professes, 
this  new  generation  will  soon  have  the  experience  that 
will  enable  it  also  to  appreciate  the  wide  difference  be- 
tween Democratic  and  Republican  doctrine  on  the  tariff. 
Assuming  that  the  Democrats  in  good  faith  apply  the 
principles  that  they  taught,  we  may  confidently  look  for- 
ward to  a  renewal  of  the  great  discussion,  when  we  will 
have  not  only  our  history,  but  the  then  present  experience, 
to  illustrate  and  enforce  the  wisdom  of  protection  to 
American  industries  as  the  true  American  policy. 

During  the  past  year  two  deaths  have  occurred  in  your 
committee.  On  the  9th  day  of  February  John  J.  Knox 
departed  this  life.  For  many  years  he  had  been  a  member 
of  this  committee.  His  well-stored  mind,  especially  upon 
all  financial  matters,  made  him  a  most  valuable  and  useful 
member.  He  was  regular  in  his  attendance  upon  the 
meetings  of  the  committee,  and  contributed  his  full  share 
of  valuable  information  in  all  its  counsels.  No  mein- 
17 


258      REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE  ON  POLITICAL  REFORM 

ber  of  the  club  was  better  known  by  the  club  at  large  than 
was  he.  No  words  of  eulogy  by  us  can  add  anything  to 
his  name  and  fame,  which  were  national.  We  can  only 
record  our  high  appreciation  of  him  as  a  man  and  asso- 
ciate. His  loss  is  deeply  felt  by  your  committee,  and  it 
feels  that  his  place  cannot  be  filled. 

On  the  26th  of  April  Col.  Richard  B.  Irwin,  another 
member  of  this  body,  died.  Mr.  Irwin  had  not  as  long 
service  on  the  committee  as  Mr.  Knox,  but  during  that 
short  service  he  had  won  the  respect  and  admiration  of  all 
the  members  of  the  committee.  Mr.  Irwin  was  not  as 
widely  known  in  the  club  as  was  Mr.  Knox.  He  was  a 
retiring,  modest  man,  and  only  those  who  became  well 
acquainted  with  him  could  appreciate  him.  In  early  life, 
during  the  Rebellion,  he  entered  one  of  our  Western 
armies.  He  was  frequently  promoted  for  his  gallantry, 
and  won  the  commendations  of  his  superior  officers.  After 
the  war  he  spent  some  time  travelling  in  Europe  and 
observing  the  institutions  of  the  Old  World.  For  many 
years  before  his  death  he  devoted  himself  to  literary  pur- 
suits, and  was  employed  upon  the  staff  of  one  of  the  great 
New  York  dailies.  He  was  there,  as  is  common  with  so 
many  other  bright  writers,  hidden  from  public  view  be- 
hind the  impersonality  of  the  corporation  which  published 
his  newspaper  work.  He  was  a  man  whose  mind  was  well 
stored  with  useful  knowledge,  and  his  conversations  were 
instructive  and  delightfully  entertaining.  To  know  him 
well  was  to  appreciate  him  highly.  By  his  death  this 
committee  lost  one  of  its  brightest  and  most  useful  mem- 
bers, and  it  takes  this  occasion  to  record,  though  imper- 
fectly, its  estimate  of  his  character. 

New  York,  January  12,  1893. 


REPORT  OF  THE 
COMMITTEE  ON  POLITICAL  REFORM 

The  Committee  on  Political  Reform  respectfully  sub- 
mits the  following  report : 

Shortly  prior  to  our  last  annual  meeting  the  Republican 
party  had  suffered  the  most  disastrous  defeat  that  had 
occurred  to  it  since  1860.  Admitting  the  defeat,  your 
committee,  in  its  annual  report,  indulged  in  the  predic- 
tion that  "  if  the  Democratic  party  applies  the  principles 
it  professes  to  our  fiscal  policy,  this  new  generation  will 
soon  have  the  experience  that  will  enable  it  to  appre- 
ciate the  difference  between  Democratic  and  Republican 
doctrine  on  the  tariff."  We  also  suggested  that,  while 
defeated,  the  discussion  of  the  great  principles  was  not 
ended,  and  that  it  would  again  be  resumed,  aided  by  what 
would  be  "  the  then  present  experience  to  illustrate  and 
enforce  the  wisdom  of  protection  to  American  industries 
as  the  true  American  policy." 

These  suggestions  were  made  before  the  inauguration 
of  the  present  administration.  Already  the  evil  effects 
of  the  installation  of  a  Democratic  administration  have 
been  made  apparent  to  everybody.  The  prostration  of 
business,  the  loss  of  property,  and  the  appalling  distress  of 
the  laboring  men  are  something  unknown  in  our  history, 
except  at  the  end  of  the  two  great  eras  of  Democratic 
government  which  preceded  the  financial  disasters  of  1837 
and  1857. 

We  do  not  refer  to  these  matters  at  this  time  for  the 


260      REPORT  OP  COMMITTEE  ON  POLITICAL  REFORM 

purpose  of  entering  into  a  lengthy  discussion  of  the  con- 
dition of  the  country,  or  of  the  remedies  that  ought  to  be 
applied;  but  we  do  refer  to  them  as  evidence  of  the  wisdom 
and  soundness  of  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party 
that  have  been  so  stoutly  and  persistently  maintained  by 
this  club.  Deplorable  as  the  condition  of  the  country  is, 
we  feel  satisfaction  in  saying,  as  a  club,  that  we  are  not 
responsible  for  the  disasters. 

If  the  teachings  of  this  club  had  been  followed,  we  con- 
fidently believe  that  the  country  to-day  would  be  in  a 
prosperous  condition.  We  feel  justified  in  declaring  anew 
our  fealty  and  loyalty  to  the  principles  and  policy  of  the 
Republican  party,  and  our  purpose  on  all  fitting  occasions 
in  the  future  to  maintain  these  principles  and  that  policy 
with  the  same  vigor  and  the  same  earnestness  that  we 
have  maintained  them  in  the  past. 

Your  committee  was  impressed  with  the  changed  posi- 
tion of  things  at  the  beginning  of  the  year,  when  it  found 
itself  out  of  harmony  with  the  general  government.  Here- 
tofore the  attitude  of  the  club  has  been  generally  one  of 
defending  and  maintaining  the  principles  of  the  govern- 
ment at  Washington.  For  the  first  time  in  many  years 
its  position  is  changed  to  one  of  criticism  and  attack  upon 
such  administration.  The  times  and  occasions  for  such 
criticism  and  attack  only  come  as  the  policy  of  the  ad- 
ministration develops. 

At  the  April  meeting  your  committee  presented  a  re- 
port upon  the  action  of  the  late  Republican  administration 
touching  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  The  information  then  at 
hand  was  meagre  as  to  the  events  that  had  occurred  at 
Honolulu.  We  did  deem  it  safe  and  proper,  however, 
to  sustain  our  own  administration.  In  April  this  report 
was  defeated  at  a  small  meeting  of  the  club,  where  there 


REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE  ON  POLITICAL  REFORM      261 

were  less  than  eighty  members  present  and  voting.  It  is 
not  for  us  to  criticize  its  action,  but  it  is  not  improper  to 
state  that  the  position  taken  by  this  body  failed  to  con- 
vince the  committee  of  the  error  of  its  report.  It  is  proper 
to  state  that  the  action  of  the  club  in  defeating  that  report 
has  frequently,  and  up  to  a  late  date,  been  referred  to 
by  the  advocates  of  the  present  administration  and  of  its 
policy  toward  these  islands  as  in  some  measure  condemna- 
tory of  the  last  administration.  Whether  it  is  a  fortunate 
circumstance,  and  one  that  is  satisfactory  to  the  club,  we 
cannot  state.  The  committee  is  satisfied  that  it  did  its  duty 
in  the  premises. 

At  the  October  meeting  your  committee  presented  a 
report  in  some  measure  reviewing  the  history  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party  and  the  then  present  condition  of  the  country, 
and  undertook  to  point  out  what  we  believe  to  be  the  great 
blunder  of  the  country  in  voting  for  a  change  of  admin- 
istration. This  report  was  unanimously  adopted.  Subse- 
quently the  State  Committee  accepted  the  report  as  a  cam- 
paign document  and  circulated  over  200,000  copies. 

The  successful  elections  that  were  held  in  November, 
1893,  are  full  of  hope  and  promise  for  the  future.  They 
are  encouraging,  and  sustain  this  club  in  maintaining  its 
firm  attitude  in  support  of  Eepublican  principles.  They 
should  stimulate  us  to  renewed  activity  in  the  future,  with 
a  feeling  of  assurance  that  the  lost  ground  will  all  be  re- 
gained, and  that  we  shall  then  not  only  be  able  to  defend 
our  principles  in  theory,  but  our  theories  will  be  reen- 
f  orced  and  buttressed  by  the  experience  of  the  country. 

The  subject  of  municipal  affairs  and  the  bad  govern- 
ment of  this  city  has  been  long  under  consideration  and 
earnest  discussion  by  the  committee.  During  the  spring 
and  early  summer  of  this  year  your  committee  did  not 


262      REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE  ON  POLITICAL  REFORM 

arrive  at  a  conclusion  so  that  it  could  formulate  a  re- 
port as  to  the  action  that  should  be  taken  by  this  club. 

At  the  November  meeting  Mr.  Charles  Stewart  Smith 
precipitated  the  action  of  your  committee  by  introducing 
the  following  resolution : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Political  Reform  be 
requested  to  report  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  club 
whether  or  not,  in  the  judgment  of  the  committee,  it  is 
desirable  for  this  club  to  lead  any  movement  by  which  an 
attempt  shall  be  made  to  unite  all  good  men,  without 
reference  to  political  affiliations,  in  the  one  issue  of  good 
government  for  this  city;  and,  if  so,  to  formulate  a  plan 
therefor." 

This  resolution  being  adopted,  your  committee  pro- 
ceeded at  once  to  earnest  consideration  of  the  subject,  and 
held  not  only  regular  meetings,  but  special  meetings  for 
that  purpose. 

In  view  of  the  upheavals  and  changes  going  on  in  the 
respective  parties,  your  committee  deem  it  unfortunate 
that  they  were,  at  that  particular  time,  called  upon  to  re- 
port to  the  club  for  its  action.  This  committee  made  a 
preliminary  report  to  the  December  meeting  of  the  club, 
in  which  report  it  recommended  certain  reforms  in  the 
laws  affecting  municipal  affairs,  which  reforms  were 
deemed  vital  prerequisites  to  any  movement  looking  to 
non-partisan  city  government,  and  asked  that  the  further 
consideration  of  the  subject  be  left  with  the  committee, 
with  power  to  report  at  any  regular  meeting. 

This  leave  to  report  at  any  regular  meeting  was  changed 
so  as  to  require  a  report  at  the  next  meeting.  This  being 
the  next  meeting,  a  report,  in  pursuance  of  that  resolution, 
accompanies  this  report. 


REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE   ON  POLITICAL  REFORM      263 

Your  committee  is  thoroughly  impressed  with  the  de- 
sirability of  reform  in  the  affairs  of  the  government  of 
this  city,  but  are  unable  to  see  their  way  clear  at  this  time 
to  enter  upon  as  radical  a  movement  as  that  indicated  by 
the  resolution  of  Mr.  Smith. 

Nothing  is  gained  for  good  government  by  simply  oust- 
ing Tammany  from  control  and  installing  another  govern- 
ment with  equally  bad  tendencies.  No  one  doubts  that 
there  are  honest  citizens  of  sufficient  number  to  take  pos- 
session of  this  city  and  govern  it  with  integrity.  Your 
committee  are  not  yet  satisfied  that  a  sufficient  number 
of  such  honest  Democrats  are  so  far  emancipated  from 
fealty  to  their  party  as  to  join  with  a  like  number  of 
honest  Republicans  in  forming  a  successful,  truly  non- 
partisan  organization. 

This  club  should  at  all  times  be  eager  to  secure  good 
government  for  this  city,  and  hold  itself  in  an  attitude 
ready  to  cooperate  with  any  such  movement  which  holds 
out  promise  of  a  genuine  reform  in  city  affairs. 

New  York,  January  11,  1894. 


EEPOKT  OF  THE 
COMMITTEE  ON  POLITICAL  REFORM 

The  Committee  on  Political  Reform  respectfully  sub- 
mits the  following  report : 

The  year  just  closed  has  been  one  of  unprecedented  im- 
portance in  the  political  history  of  the  country.  The  re- 
sult of  the  recent  elections  seems  to  demonstrate  that  the 
better  sentiment  of  the  country  has  again  turned  toward 
the  Republican  party  as  the  party  best  qualified  to  safely 
administer  its  affairs. 

This  change  of  public  sentiment  is  a  source  of  great 
gratification  to  this  club.  It  shows  that  the  principles  for 
which  we  have  so  long  contended  are  meeting  with  the 
approval  of  the  entire  country.  If  the  Republican  party 
shall  manifest  the  wisdom  of  administration  that  has  char- 
acterized most  of  its  career  from  its  earliest  days,  we 
have  good  reason  to  believe  that  for  a  long  period  to 
come  it  will  be  entrusted  with  the  administration  of  the 
government. 

On  many  former  occasions  this  club  has  arraigned 
David  B.  Hill,  as  the  governor  of  the  State,  and  all  of  his 
associates  in  the  great  conspiracy  to  defeat  the  will  of  the 
people  at  the  ballot-box.  It  has  not  hesitated  to  denounce 
the  acts  and  the  actors  when  the  latter  were  in  the  full 
flush  of  power  and  apparent  victory.  We  have  the  satis- 
faction now  of  knowing  that,  through  the  courts  and 
through  the  ballot-box,  all  of  the  State  officers  engaged 
in  the  great  crime  have  received  their  punishment.  It 


REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE   ON  POLITICAL  REFORM      265 

is  with  peculiar  satisfaction  that  we  note  the  fact  that 
David  B.  Hill,  the  great  conspirator,  was  defeated  by  a 
plurality  of  over  150,000  votes.  It  would  be  an  anomaly 
in  our  history  if  after  such  a  punishment  for  moral  ob- 
liquity in  high  office  he  should  ever  again  be  a  successful 
leader  in  the  politics  of  the  State. 

In  municipal  affairs  the  city  has  entered  upon  a  wide 
departure  from  precedents  heretofore  established  for  its 
government.  It  has  been  decreed  by  the  people  that  a 
non-partisan  business  administration  shall  be  established. 
There  is  a  great  difference  of  opinion  among  honest  men 
as  to  the  practicability  of  so  administering  the  affairs  of 
this  municipality.  In  view  of  the  disastrous  results  of 
administering  our  affairs  on  a  partisan  basis,  it  is  at  least 
desirable  that  this  new  experiment  should  be  honestly 
tried.  If  the  result  shall  be  satisfactory,  there  is  no  rea- 
sonable doubt  that  a  solution  has  been  found  for  much 
of  the  evil  pertaining  to  city  governments.  This  club 
should  sustain  with  all  its  moral  force  the  efforts  of  Mayor 
Strong  to  administer  the  city's  affairs. 

On  the  8th  day  of  February  this  club  referred  to  your 
committee  a  resolution  calling  for  a  report  upon  the  then 
pending  police  bills  in  the  legislature.  Your  committee 
entered  upon  an  examination  of  the  various  bills,  and  in- 
vited a  number  of  the  members  of  the  club  to  meet  with 
the  committee  and  discuss  them.  Your  committee  re- 
ported that  it  was  not  desirable  at  that  time  to  pass 
mandatory  legislation  requiring  the  Board  of  Police  Com- 
missioners to  be  constituted  of  persons  of  different  politi- 
cal faith.  While  it  recognized  the  efficiency  of  a  single- 
headed  commission,  provided  there  were  adequate  means 
to  secure  the  appointment  of  a  man  who  would  administer 
the  affairs  of  the  department  regardless  of  political  affilia- 


266       REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE   ON  POLITICAL  REFORM 

tions,  yet  in  view  of  the  probability  (then  amounting 
almost  to  a  certainty)  that  such  an  appointment  could  not 
be  secured,  it  did  not  recommend  a  single-headed  com- 
mission, but  recommended  legislation  removing  from  the 
Police  Department  the  Bureau  of  Elections,  and  trans- 
ferring the  accounts  of  the  Police  Department  to  the  De- 
partment of  Finance;  and  recommended  that  legislation 
should  be  sought  directed  in  general  toward  the  enfran- 
chisement of  the  Police  Department  from  all  political 
activity  and  influence,  and  also  that  the  rules  of  the  civil 
service,  so  far  as  is  applicable  to  that  department,  should 
be  strictly  and  impartially  enforced.  About  the  time  the 
report  was  made,  Mayor  Gilroy  appointed  a  Republican 
police  commissioner,  thus  making  the  apparent  political 
complexion  of  the  commission  non-partisan.  No  bill  was 
passed  in  Albany  making  such  division  mandatory.  In 
view  of  the  developments  before  the  Lexow  Committee, 
and  the  probability  of  a  report  and  proposed  legislation  by 
that  committee,  no  suggestion  even  would  be  proper  from 
this  committee  at  this  time  touching  this  all-important 
subject. 

In  April  a  committee  from  the  citizens  of  Troy  waited 
upon  your  committee  and  presented  their  views  touching 
the  then  recent  events  at  the  Troy  spring  elections,  re- 
sulting in  the  murder  of  Robert  Ross.  These  gentlemen 
deemed  it  desirable  that  some  expression  of  the  opinion 
of  this  club  should  be  made  to  encourage  the  people  of 
Troy  in  their  efforts  to  prosecute  the  murderer.  Your 
committee  made  a  report  on  that  subject,  which  report 
was  adopted  by  the  club  at  its  May  meeting. 

At  the  October  meeting  of  this  club  your  committee 
presented  a  report  upon  the  issues  involved  in  the  canvass 
then  pending  for  the  elections  to  be  held  in  November. 


REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE  ON  POLITICAL  REFORM      267 

Such  report  advocated  the  election  of  Governor  Morton 
and  the  city  reform  ticket  headed  by  Mayor  Strong.  This 
report  was  unanimously  adopted  by  the  club  at  its  October 
meeting. 

At  the  November  meeting  of  the  club  a  resolution  was 
passed  as  follows : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Political  Reform, 
on  behalf  of  The  Union  League  Club,  be,  and  it  hereby  is, 
authorized  and  requested  to  take  the  initiative  in  recom- 
mending to  the  next  Republican  legislature  such  amend- 
ments to  the  present  election  and  ballot  laws  as  will  remedy 
existing  defects  and  effectively  prevent  the  further  dis- 
franchisement  of  voters." 

Your  committee  respectfully  reports  that  it  has  given 
the  resolution  due  consideration,  and  is  still  holding  it 
as  an  authority  for  action  when  the  time  shall  arrive 
for  such  action.  It  should  be  known  by  the  club  that 
during  the  past  year  a  sub-committee  of  your  committee, 
in  conjunction  with  sub-committees  of  many  other  leading 
reform  organizations  of  New  York ,  Brooklyn,  Staten 
Island,  and  other  points  in  the  State,  devoted  considerable 
time  to  the  formulation  of  a  ballot-reform  law.  There 
was  not  entire  unanimity  among  the  delegates  as  to  the 
proper  form  of  this  bill  in  respect  to  some  of  its  details, 
but  there  was  an  entire  agreement  that  great  changes  are 
needed  in  the  present  ballot  law.  The  bill  so  carefully 
prepared  was  sent  to  the  last  legislature,  and  there 
amended  and  changed  as  deemed  advisable  by  those  hav- 
ing this  matter  in  charge.  It  was  passed  by  both  branches 
of  the  legislature,  and  vetoed  by  Governor  Flower.  The 
bill  as  vetoed  is  on  the  files  of  the  bills  of  the  last  legisla- 
ture, and  will  undoubtedly  form  the  basis  of  legislation 


268      REPORT  OP  COMMITTEE  ON  POLITICAL  REFORM 

at  the  present  session  of  the  legislature.  When  the  bill 
shall  be  introduced,  your  committee  will  deem  it  within 
the  scope  of  the  authority  conferred  upon  it  by  this  club 
to  give  it  careful  examination  and  make  such  suggestions 
as  shall  seem  best. 

There  was  also  introduced  at  the  November  meeting  a 
resolution  as  follows : 

"  Mr.  J.  Seaver  Page  moved  that  the  Committee  on 
Political  Reform  take  up  the  matter  of  Greater  New 
York  and  report  on  the  subject  at  some  future  meeting, 
for  the  information  of  the  club." 

Your  committee  has  also  given  this  resolution  due  con- 
sideration. On  a  subject  of  such  vast  and  far-reaching 
importance,  a  premature  or  ill-considered  report  is  not 
desirable.  Whatever  may  be  the  opinion  of  members  of 
the  club  as  to  the  desirability  of  Greater  New  York,  the 
position  of  the  question  at  the  present  time  seems  to  be 
that  a  majority  of  the  people  have  voted  in  favor  of  it.  To 
give  effect  to  this  vote,  however,  there  must  be  legislation ; 
and  it  is  understood  that  an  organization  or  committee  of 
gentlemen  who  have  especially  espoused  this  cause  has 
the  formulation  of  such  legislation  in  charge.  It  is  the 
opinion  of  your  committee  that  no  action  should  be  taken 
by  this  club  until  such  proposed  legislation  should  take 
form  in  Albany.  It  is  apparent  that  a  plan  of  consolida- 
tion may  be  formulated  that  will  be  objectionable  in  its 
details;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  a  plan  may  be  formu- 
lated that  will  be  unobjectionable.  Your  committee  is 
not  possessed  of  the  information,  nor  has  it  now  the  time 
for  investigation,  necessary  to  enable  it  to  make  any  recom- 
mendation at  this  time.  This  resolution  also  is  being  held 
by  the  committee  for  further  consideration. 


REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE  ON  POLITICAL  REFORM      269 

Your  committee  has  prepared  a  report  upon  the  subject 
of  a  bill  conferring  upon  Mayor  Strong  the  power  of  re- 
moval and  appointment  to  offices  of  the  city  of  New  York, 
so  that  he  may  be  untrammelled  in  his  efforts  to  give  this 
city  a  non-partisan  business  administration,  in  conformity 
with  the  plans  of  the  Committee  of  Seventy  and  in  pur- 
suance of  his  pledges  to  the  people.  Your  committee  has 
deemed  it  important  that  this  club  should  define  its  posi- 
tion on  this  matter  in  no  uncertain  terms,  and  a  special 
report  thereon  is  presented  to  this  meeting  with  this 
report. 

No  other  resolution  has  been  referred  to  this  committee 
during  the  past  year;  nor  has  it  deemed  it  advisable  for 
the  committee,  on  its  own  motion,  to  bring  any  other  sub- 
ject before  the  club. 

New  York,  January  10,  1895. 


ADDRESS  TO  HON.  WILLIAM  M.  EVARTS 

On  the  Occasion  of  a  Reception  given  by  the  Union  League  Club  after 
his  Election  to  the  United  States  Senate 

The  Union  League  Club  have  assembled  this  evening 
to  offer  to  you,  Mr.  Evarts,  their  united  congratulations. 
You  are  no  stranger  to  its  members,  for  you  were  one  of 
its  founders,  and  have  received  at  its  hands  all  the  honors 
it  can  bestow. 

You  are  tendered  this  reception  because  you  have  re- 
cently been  elected  a  member  of  that  august  body,  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  by  the  suffrages  of  the  repre- 
sentatives of  this  Empire  State.  We  desire  in  a  fitting 
manner  to  congratulate  you  upon  your  elevation  to  that 
body.  We  congratulate  ourselves,  and  the  whole  body  of 
the  citizens  of  the  State,  that  they  have  secured  your 
eminent  abilities  for  that  high  office. 

We  deem  your  election  as  fitting  and  of  good  omen 
under  the  circumstances  in  which  it  has  taken  place.  The 
Republican  party,  after  having  been  in  power  twenty- 
four  years,  has  been  defeated  at  the  polls  and  is  about 
to  surrender  the  executive  branch  of  the  general  govern- 
ment to  the  Democratic  party.  In  theory,  parties  exist 
with  us  only  to  enforce  policies  and  principles  of  govern- 
ment which  the  people  approve.  They  do  not  exist  to  ad- 
vance the  fortunes  of  men  or  combinations  of  men  by 
placing  them  in  office.  This  we  believe  to  be  the  opinion 
of  the  great  mass  of  the  thoughtful,  intelligent  voters  of 


ADDRESS  TO  HON.  WILLIAM  M.   EVARTS  271 

all  parties.  But,  to  carry  out  policies  and  principles  of 
government,  men  must  be  chosen  to  office,  and  they  must 
receive  the  honors  and  emoluments  which  pertain  to  office. 
Good  party  principles  can  produce  no  practical  results  for 
the  people  until  the  party  which  holds  them  can  secure 
the  offices  in  the  government,  so  as  to  enforce  and  exem- 
plify its  principles.  In  securing  the  offices  a  new  danger 
arises  which  must  always  confront  a  successful  party.  It 
is  a  laudable  ambition  for  any  man  to  desire  an  office  in  our 
republican  government.  It  stimulates  interest  in  the  af- 
fairs of  a  government  by  the  people  when  one  or  another 
of  the  people  may  be  called  by  the  suffrages  of  his  fellows 
to  take  part  in  that  government.  There  is  danger,  how- 
ever, that  the  office-holding  class  will  come  to  think,  after 
a  time,  that  the  party  exists  only  to  secure  places  of  honor 
and  emolument  for  favored  members  of  the  party.  When 
this  feeling  has  found  lodgment,  personal  strifes  are  en- 
gendered, internal  factions  are  liable  to  be  formed,  and 
men  of  high  and  low  degree  will  have  their  individual 
following.  They  lose  sight  of  the  purpose  of  their  party 
and  of  their  own  political  principles  in  their  zeal  for  their 
favorites.  Their  likes  and  dislikes  of  persons  will  stimu- 
late or  suppress  their  zeal  for  principles,  and  so  it  may 
come  to  pass  that  a  great  party  may  be  defeated  at  the 
polls,  even  though  the  people  do  not  in  their  hearts  con- 
demn the  party  which  they  assist  in  defeating.  The  evils 
just  spoken  of  are  not  peculiar  to  any  party  or  faction, 
but  pertain  to  all  parties  which  have  held  power  within 
the  last  half  century  in  this  republic.  We  do  not  believe 
these  evils  can  ever  be  entirely  removed  from  any  success- 
ful party,  taking  human  nature  as  it  is.  Nevertheless,  it 
has  seemed  to  us  fitting  and  proper  at  this  time  to  call  at- 
tention to  these  dangers,  and,  so  far  as  the  influence  of  this 


272  ADDRESS  TO  HON.  WILLIAM  M.  EVARTS 

club  extends,  to  declare  its  adherence  to  the  principles 
and  policy  of  the  Republican  party  as  best  adapted  to 
promote  the  welfare  of  the  people ;  and  to  deprecate  that 
feeling  which  will  defeat  a  candidate  because  not  the 
favorite  of  a  particular  faction.  That  there  will  always 
be  differences  of  opinion  as  to  the  relative  merits  of  can- 
didates competing  for  the  same  office  is  to  be  expected  and 
desired.  Such  differences  tend  to  bring  out  the  merits 
and  demerits  of  the  candidates,  and  should  lead  to  the 
nomination  of  the  best  man.  It  is  the  spirit  of  faction, 
which  refuses  to  support  a  rival,  that  we  deprecate.  We 
believe  the  honest  desire  of  the  majority  of  the  voters 
to  continue  the  policy  and  principles  of  the  Republican 
party  in  power  has  been  often  defeated  in  this  State  by 
this  factional  and  personal  feeling.  We  believe  that  the 
most  successful  political  management  is  that  which  seeks 
to  voice  the  desires  of  the  people  as  to  candidates,  rather 
than  that  management  which,  through  the  power  of  politi- 
cal organization,  seeks  to  force  the  people  from  their 
choice.  By  this  better  political  management  public  atten- 
tion will  be  more  steadily  directed  to  a  consideration  of 
the  principles  and  tendencies  of  the  contending  parties, 
and  a  transfer  of  power  from  one  party  to  another  will 
mean  an  approval  or  disapproval  of  the  policy  of  one  or  an- 
other of  the  great  parties.  We  think  that,  notwithstanding 
the  defeat  of  the  Republican  party  in  the  late  general 
election,  the  majority  of  the  people  believe  in  its  policy, 
and  that  they  believe  that  the  personal  rights  of  all  citi- 
zens and  the  material  prosperity  of  the  country  would 
be  best  conserved  in  its  hands.  This  was  not  the  case 
when  the  Democratic  party  was  driven  from  power  in 
1860.  Among  other  things,  it  had  proved  itself  false  in 
its  principles  and  policy  on  at  least  three  great  cardinal 


ADDRESS  TO  HON.   WILLIAM  M.   EVARTS  273 

doctrines  which  the  people  deemed  material  to  the  per- 
petuity and  prosperity  of  the  republic. 

That  party  comprised  a  large  body  of  citizens  who 
taught  such  extreme  views  of  State  rights  that  they  finally 
developed  into  the  claim  of  the  right  of  secession.  The 
bond  of  the  federal  Union  was  weakened  and  the  republic 
almost  destroyed. 

The  Democratic  party  was  false  to  the  great  principle 
of  our  government,  that  all  men  are  free  and  equal  before 
the  law. 

The  Democratic  party  was  also  false  to  another  great 
doctrine,  the  application  of  which  we  believe  to  be  essen- 
tial to  the  prosperity  of  the  country ;  namely,  that  legisla- 
tion should  be  so  framed  as  to  foster  American  industries. 

It  was  because  the  Democratic  party  was  false  to  the 
true  interests  of  the  people  upon  these  three  great  leading 
issues  that  it  was  driven  from  power  in  1860  as  no  longer 
to  be  trusted  with  the  government  of  the  country. 

The  Eepublican  party  assumed  the  control  of  the  gov- 
ernment, and  has  held  it  for  twenty-four  years.  It  has 
during  this  time,  as  far  as  possible,  uprooted  the  pernicious 
doctrines  and  policies  which  the  Democratic  party  had 
fostered.  It  has  restored  the  federal  authority  to  its 
proper  place  in  our  scheme  of  government ;  made  it  strong 
and  respected  at  home  and  abroad.  It  has  preserved  to 
the  States  their  just  rights,  holding  them  at  the  same  time 
in  their  proper  relations  to  the  general  government.  Not- 
withstanding this  splendid  record,  the  party  has  been  de- 
feated at  the  polls.  If  this  defeat  had  been  effected  be- 
cause, on  a  full  and  fair  discussion  of  the  policy  of  the 
Republican  party,  the  people  had  determined  to  reject  it, 
the  defeat  would  have  great  significance.  But  in  looking 
back  upon  the  history  of  the  campaign  just  closed,  we 
18 


274  ADDRESS  TO  HON.  WILLIAM  M.   EVARTS 

cannot  believe  that  the  result  of  that  campaign  was  due 
to  the  sober  condemnation  by  the  people  of  the  principles 
of  our  party. 

We  know  that  the  old  issues,  or  some  of  them,  will  arise 
again  in  some  form,  and  will  have  to  be  discussed.  Ques- 
tions of  great  importance  will  present  themselves.  Among 
them,  questions  affecting  our  foreign  relations,  our  ship- 
ping interests,  the  tariff,  and  internal  revenue,  upon  all  of 
which  questions  our  party  will  be  likely  to  take  issue  with 
the  Democratic  party.  We  recognize  that  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States  is  the  best  forum  from  which  to  carry  on 
that  discussion.  We  believe  that  you  are  well  equipped, 
by  your  great  experience  and  learning  and  by  your  ability 
in  forensic  debate,  to  present  upon  that  forum  the  views 
of  Republicans  of  the  Empire  State.  You  have  been 
elected  in  response  to  the  call  of  the  people.  Your  most 
ardent  supporters  in  the  legislature  represented  all  the 
divisions  that  have  heretofore  been  supposed  to  exist  in 
the  party,  so  that  men  who  have  not  heretofore  coalesced 
in  party  management  were  found  to  be  rivals  in  their 
hearty  support  of  your  candidacy.  This  seems  to  point 
to  the  conclusion  that  factional  spirit  is  to  be  laid  aside, 
and  that  the  Republican  party  will  seek  to  regain  power, 
as  it  originally  acquired  it,  by  its  better  principles  and 
policy  and  its  better  capacity  to  preserve  the  just  rights 
of  all  the  people  and  promote  their  prosperity. 

It  is  because  you,  sir,  have  been  chosen  to  be  one  of  the 
foremost  standard-bearers  of  the  party  in  the  great  con- 
test that  is  before  us  that  we  have  tendered  you  this  recep- 
tion. And  while  we  congratulate  you  upon  your  election, 
we  pledge  you  our  support  in  the  great  work  in  which  you 
are  to  take  so  conspicuous  a  part. 

New  York,  April,  1885. 


PAPEE  PEEPAEED  FOE  THE  UNION  LEAGUE 
CLUB  IN  MEMOEY  OF  JOHN  BEIGHT 

The  Union  League  Club  of  New  York  deems  the  death 
of  John  Bright  an  event  that  calls  for  some  fitting  tribute 
from  this  body.  A  great  and  good  man  has  finished  his 
earthly  career.  He  has  left  a  record  of  character  and 
influence  not  often  made.  His  fame  does  not  rest  upon 
deeds  performed  upon  the  field  of  battle  or  in  the  works  of 
science  or  literature.  His  great  work  was  in  moulding 
and  directing  the  thoughts  of  men.  In  this  field  he  was 
a  leader  of  first  rank.  He  was  a  clear  thinker,  anxious 
always  to  be  right.  Having  settled  in  his  own  mind  what 
was  the  right  of  any  cause,  he  espoused  that  cause  with 
all  his  energies.  He  was  a  clear  and  cogent  speaker,  and 
by  his  powerful  oratory,  personal  magnetism,  and  moral 
force,  any  cause  he  advocated  seemed  to  be  reinforced  by 
a  mighty  host.  He  was  by  birth  and  education  a  Quaker; 
all  the  sentiments  of  his  nature  were  opposed  to  war ;  but 
he  could  look  behind  a  war  to  see  if  the  cause  of  the  con- 
flict justified  it.  In  the  British  Parliament  he  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  denounce  the  wars  of  his  own  government.  He  was 
not  blinded  as  to  the  justice  of  a  conflict  by  the  sentiment 
that  one  must  sustain  his  country  in  all  contests.  Actu- 
ated by  a  high  sense  of  duty,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  de- 
nounce the  Crimean  War  as  wicked  and  unnecessary.  For 
this  he  lost  his  seat  in  Parliament.  For  the  same  reason, 


276  IN  MEMORY  OF  JOHN  BRIGHT 

he  resigned  from  Gladstone's  ministry  when  the  bom- 
bardment of  Alexandria  took  place. 

He  was  a  close  student  of  American  politics.  He 
understood  perfectly  the  causes  that  led  to  the  great 
War  of  the  Eebellion  in  this  country.  He  saw  on  the 
one  side  an  attempt  to  found  a  government  upon  the 
basis  of  slavery;  on  the  other  side  he  saw  a  great 
nation  striving  to  maintain  a  government  founded  upon 
the  equal  rights  of  all  men.  He  abhorred  the  idea 
that  in  this  age  a  nation  could  be  founded  upon 
slavery.  Here  was  a  cause  for  which,  according  to  his 
standard,  war  was  justified.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  give 
the  loyal  North  his  hearty  support.  It  took  no  little 
courage  to  do  it.  The  governing  and  wealthy  classes  of 
his  country  were  at  that  time  in  sympathy  with  the  South. 
All  who  were  then  living  remember  well  the  feeling  of 
disappointment,  which  soon  turned  into  anger,  at  the  seem- 
ing failure  of  England  to  give  the  loyal  North  moral 
support  and  fair  treatment.  It  was  at  this  juncture  that 
John  Bright  stood  up  for  our  government  against  the  tone 
of  England,  and  won  the  hearts  of  all  loyal  Americans. 
It  is  hard,  at  this  day,  to  realize  the  value  of  the  service 
he  rendered  to  this  country.  It  checked  the  tide  of  public 
sentiment  in  England,  that  seemed  to  be  almost  unani- 
mously against  our  government.  It  was  soon  found  that 
he  spoke  the  sentiment  and  sympathies  of  the  middle  and 
laboring  classes  of  his  country.  Erom  that  time  we  have 
cherished  his  name  and  memory  as  worthy  of  lasting 
gratitude.  Eor  more  than  twenty  years  his  portrait  has 
hung  in  a  conspicuous  place  on  our  walls.  We  invited 
him  to  be  our  guest,  but  he  was  unwilling  to  make  the 
journey  to  this  country.  We  have  felt  that  no  recognition 
we  could  give  of  his  services  was  too  much  for  him ;  and 


IN  MEMORY  OF  JOHN  BRIGHT  277 

now  that  he  is  dead  we  can  only  fervently  and  reverently 
resolve  that  we  shall  ever  hold  his  memory  in  grateful 
remembrance. 

New  York,  April,  1889. 


NATIVE  COPPER  IN  MICHIGAN 

Few  people  have  any  knowledge  of  the  native  copper 
of  Michigan — what  it  is,  where  it  is  obtained,  or  how  it  is 
procured  and  prepared  for  market;  nor  is  the  magnitude  of 
the  industry  understood.  Last  year  there  were  produced 
105,586,000  pounds  of  refined  copper,  which  at  17  cents 
per  pound  (about  the  price  of  copper  at  this  writing) 
would  amount  to  the  sum  of  $18,045,620.  It  is  a  rapidly 
growing  industry,  and  the  new  openings  and  additional 
machinery,  now  fast  getting  ready  for  operation,  point  to 
an  increased  production  of  at  least  20  per  cent,  in  pounds 
of  copper  for  next  year. 

About  $250,000,000  in  value  have  been  taken  from 
these  famous  mines,  and  yet  no  one  suggests  a  probable 
limit  to  the  supply,  or  dares  predict  the  extent  of  the 
possible  future  development  of  this  great  industry.  Na- 
tive copper  is  so  called  because  each  particular  piece  of 
copper  as  it  is  mined,  whether  it  be  many  tons  in  weight 
or  a  fine  particle  of  dust,  is  pure  copper  of  the  same  kind 
and  quality  as  the  ingot  copper  of  the  world's  markets. 
It  is  not  alloyed  with  any  other  mineral,  except  it  carries 
a  trace  of  silver,  and  pure  silver  in  small  quantities  is 
often  found  imbedded  in  it. 

It  was  this  purity  of  the  metal  that  made  these  mines 
an  object  of  interest  to  an  ancient  people  who  discovered 
and  worked  them  extensively  in  some  prehistoric  age. 

Those  who  look  at  a  map  of  Lake  Superior  will  see  a 
peninsula  called  Keweenaw  Point  that  juts  out  into  the 


NATIVE  COPPER  IN  MICHIGAN  979 

lake  from  the  southerly  shore,  in  a  northeasterly  direc- 
tion. It  is  a  wee,  small  bit  of  land  in  this  world  to  con- 
tain so  much  wealth  and  to  possess  so  much  romantic  in- 
terest. These  famous  mines  are  situated  along  a  line 
about  in  the  middle  of  this  peninsula,  running  from  south- 
west to  northeast,  and  copper  has  been  found  at  various 
points  along  this  line  for  about  fifty  miles.  Ancient  works 
have  been  found  at  numerous  points  for  about  thirty  miles. 

There  is  a  deep  mystery  about  these  old  works  that  it  is 
impossible  to  fathom.  In  the  opinion  of  many  they  were 
worked  by  a  race  of  men  that  preceded  the  Indian  races 
found  here  when  Columbus  discovered  this  continent;  but 
others  think  that  they  were  worked  by  the  ancestors  of  the 
Indian  races  here  when  white  men  first  penetrated  this 
then  far-distant  country.  This  question  can  never  be  con- 
clusively settled.  This  much  is  certain,  that,  whoever 
worked  these  mines  in  ancient  days,  all  knowledge  of  the 
existence  of  the  mines  was  gone  from  the  Indians  when 
white  men  rediscovered  them. 

These  ancient  miners  were  a  diligent  and  persistent 
people.  They  seemed  to  know  nothing  of  smelting  cop- 
per, for  there  are  no  traces  of  molten  copper.  They  were 
after  pieces  of  suitable  size  to  work  by  cold  hammering 
into  useful  articles  and  ornaments.  They  understood  the 
use  of  fire  in  softening  the  rocks  to  enable  them  to  break 
away  the  rock  from  the  masses  of  copper.  They  knew 
nothing  of  drilling  or  blasting,  but  used  the  stone  hammer 
freely.  More  than  ten  cart-loads  of  stone  hammers  were 
found  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Minnesota  mine.  One  of  the 
larger  class  weighed  thirty-nine  and  one-half  pounds,  while 
smaller  specimens  weighed  five  or  six  pounds  each. 

These  stone  hammers  have  a  crease  around  them,  ob- 
viously for  a  withe  handle.  Such  handles  are  made  of 


280  NATIVE   COPPER   IN  MICHIGAN 

tough  saplings  or  small  trees  that  will  bend  around  the 
stone,  and,  when  firmly  bound  in  their  place  by  strips  of 
strong  bark,  make  a  hammer  about  as  effective  as  a  mod- 
ern blacksmith's  sledge-hammer.  Ashes  and  wood  coals 
have  been  found  on  the  rocks  at  the  bottom  of  the  work- 
ing, showing  the  use  of  fire  to  prepare  the  way  for  the 
effective  use  of  the  stone  hammer.  These  mines  must 
have  been  worked  for  centuries,  judging  by  the  extent  of 
the  works. 

In  one  place  the  excavation  was  about  fifty  feet  deep, 
and  at  the  bottom  were  found  timbers  forming  a  scaffold- 
ing, and  a  large  sheet  of  copper  was  discovered  there.  In 
another  place  in  one  of  the  old  pits  was  found  a  mass  of 
copper  that  weighed  forty-six  tons.  At  another  point  the 
excavation  was  twenty-six  feet  deep.  In  another  opening, 
at  the  depth  of  eighteen  feet,  a  mass  of  copper  weighing 
over  six  tons  was  found  raised  about  five  feet  from  its  na- 
tive bed  by  the  ancients  and  secured  there  on  oaken  props. 
Every  projecting  point  had  been  taken  off  by  these  people, 
so  that  the  exposed  surface  was  smooth. 

Wherever  the  ancients  found  copper  from  a  few  pounds 
weight  to  a  few  hundred  pounds  in  weight  they  were  ob- 
viously able  to  utilize  them,  but  the  large  masses  were  too 
heavy  for  them  to  .handle.  Their  habit  was  to  throw  the 
broken  stone  behind  them  as  they  progressed  with  their 
works.  Many  of  their  workings  are  ten  feet  or  less  in 
depth.  The  copper  obtained  by  these  people  was  wrought 
cold  into  axes,  chisels,  knives,  spear  heads,  arrow  heads, 
bracelets,  buttons,  beads,  etc.  It  has  been  observed  that 
very  few  of  these  articles  are  found  near  the  mines. 

There  is  a  piece  of  low  arable  land  a  few  miles  from 
the  mines,  near  the  mouth  of  a  small  stream  that  runs  into 
Keweenaw  Bay,  which  the  old  miners  probably  used  as 


NATIVE  COPPER  IN  MICHIGAN  281 

their  camping  ground,  for  here  has  been  the  principal  find 
of  ancient  tools  on  Keeweenaw  Point.  These  copper  tools 
have  been  frequently  found  in  the  old  earthworks  in  Wis- 
consin, Ohio,  and  Canada,  and  the  writer  thinks  that  he 
has  read  of  their  being  found  farther  south,  in  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley.  There  are  no  human  remains  found  near 
the  workings,  nor  evidences  of  human  habitations. 

The  extreme  severity  of  the  winters  and  the  absence 
of  any  evidence  of  permanent  occupation  have  led  many  to 
suppose  that  the  ancient  miners  migrated  from  some 
warmer  climate  in  the  spring  and  returned  in  the  autumn, 
perhaps  bearing  their  dead  away  with  them.  Whoever 
they  were,  whatever  their  habits  were,  many  centuries 
have  passed  since  they  last  worked  these  mines.  Their 
trenches  and  openings  have  become  filled  up,  or  nearly  so. 
Monstrous  trees  have  grown  over  their  works  and  fallen  to 
decay;  other  generations  of  large  trees  have  grown  and 
perhaps  fallen  and  decayed;  how  many,  no  one  can  tell. 
All  that  is  known  is  that  when  the  mines  were  rediscov- 
ered decayed  trunks  of  large  trees  were  lying  over  the 
works,  with  a  heavy  growth  of  live  timber  then  standing 
on  the  ground.  Over  one  of  these  works  in  the  Minnesota 
mine  Mr.  Knapp  reports  that  a  hemlock  tree  which  he 
felled  showed  395  annular  rings. 

The  desire  to  fix  a  time  when  these  old  works  were 
closed  is  intense,  but  cannot  be  gratified.  It  would  be 
curious  to  compare  the  civilization  of  Europe  with  that  of 
these  people  at  the  same  time,  if  we  could  fix  the  date. 
What  was  Europe  doing  when  these  stalwart  men  of  the 
Northwest  were  swinging  those  tons  of  stone  hammers  in  a 
no  mean  effort  to  accomplish  a  feat  of  mining  that,  a  few 
years  ago,  would  have  been  creditable  to  our  boasted 
civilization? 


282  NATIVE  COPPER  IN  MICHIGAN 

Had  Columbus  pointed  the  prow  of  his  ship  to  these 
shores  at  the  very  time  these  men  were  industriously 
working  these  mines,  or  had  the  forest  trees  then  grown 
over  them  ?  Dates  would  be  interesting,  but  they  cannot 
be  established.  Of  one  thing  we  are  certain,  a  great 
modern  industry  has  been,  or,  more  properly  speaking,  is 
now  being,  built  upon  this  ancient  industry. 

The  Jesuits  who  visited  this  country  about  two  hundred 
years  ago  learned  from  the  Indians  that  there  was  copper 
in  the  country.  Claud  Allouez,  who  visited  Lake  Superior 
in  16G6,  states  that  pieces  of  copper  weighing  from  ten 
to  twenty  pounds  were  frequently  found  by  the  savages. 
Pieces  of  copper  that  have  been  carried  by  the  convulsions 
of  nature  from  their  original  bed  are  found  many  miles 
from  the  copper  veins.  In  1864  a  mass  of  copper  weigh- 
ing about  eighteen  tons  was  found  loose  on  the  drift  cover- 
ing the  rock  near  Portage  Lake. 

A  copper  rock  now  on  the  government  grounds  in 
Washington  has  a  strange  history.  It  was  brought  from 
the  banks  of  the  Ontanagon  River.  It  is  supposed  to  have 
been  removed  by  the  ancients  in  some  way  to  the  banks  of 
the  river,  and  in  an  attempt  to  raft  it  over  it  got  away 
from  them  and  sank  to  the  bottom.  When  the  water  was 
low  it  projected  above  the  surface,  and  was  an  object  of 
religious  veneration.  It  is  said  to  have  been  known  for 
over  200  years.  The  Jesuits  heard  of  it  from  the  Indian 
priests,  who,  however,  refused  to  conduct  the  missionaries 
to  the  spot  where  it  lay,  on  account  of  a  superstitious  belief 
that  when  the  white  men  had  seen  it  the  Indians  would 
be  destroyed — a  belief  not  without  reason. 

In  1820  General  Cass  sent  a  party  of  men  to  fetch  the 
rock  away,  but  owing  to  its  great  weight  they  did  not 
succeed.  Another  attempt  was  made  to  remove  it  in  1827, 


NATIVE  COPPER  IN  MICHIGAN  283 

but  as  the  river  was  high  and  it  was  pretty  much  covered 
with  water  this  attempt  failed.  In  1842  another  attempt 
was  more  successful.  It  was  removed  to  the  mouth  of  the 
river.  A  Mr.  Eldred  claimed  to  own  it.  It  was  afterward 
claimed  by  a  government  agent,  and  finally  removed  to 
Washington.  By  act  of  Congress  Mr.  Eldred  was  paid 
$5,655  for  it. 

The  first  attempt  at  mining  within  historical  times  was 
in  1771,  but  the  location  was  not  skilfully  chosen,  and  it 
was  a  failure.  It  was  not  until  the  report  of  Dr.  Douglass 
Houghton,  State  geologist,  in  1841,  that  there  was  any 
public  knowledge  of  native  copper  in  place  on  Keweenaw 
Point.  This  report  awakened  great  interest  in  this  coun- 
try, and  explorations  and  developments  have  gone  on  with 
generally  increasing  interest  to  this  date.  A  history  of 
the  early  struggles  and  trials  of  those  who  took  part  in 
the  development  of  this  country  would  be  exceedingly 
interesting.  It  is  a  pity  the  task  is  not  undertaken  by 
some  competent  person  before  death  has  removed  the  last 
of  the  actors  who  could  tell  the  tale. 

It  was  not  until  1844,  after  the  Indian  titles  were  ex- 
tinguished, that  mining  began  in  earnest  by  white  men. 
Hundreds  of  companies  were  unwisely  organized.  Specu- 
lation was  rife.  Works  were  begun  under  great  difficulties, 
and  knowledge  of  mining  was  limited.  Capital  was  also 
limited.  The  usual  result  followed — a  grand  collapse — 
in  1847.  Disappointment  and  failure  were  general,  with 
some  notable  exceptions.  The  methods  of  mining  then 
employed  were  primitive.  The  country  is  full  of  aban- 
doned works,  and  many  of  them  are  now  being  reopened 
with  fresh  capital. 

In  the  early  days  the  mining  was,  in  some  of  its  meth- 
ods, not  unlike  those  of  the  ancient  miners,  but  some 


284  NATIVE   COPPER   IN  MICHIGAN 

modern  ideas  were  introduced.  Drilling,  blasting,  and 
stamping  in  a  crude  way  were  employed.  In  all  cases, 
except  where  large  masses  of  copper  were  found,  the  ore 
was  roasted  in  burrows.  These  were  formed  by  layers  of 
wood  and  layers  of  ore.  In  the  roasting  process  care  was 
taken  not  to  have  the  fire  hot  enough  to  melt  the  copper. 
The  large  pieces  of  copper  were  sent  to  the  smelting 
works,  the  smaller  pieces  of  roasted  ore  were  stamped  and 
washed,  and  the  resulting  copper  put  in  barrels  and  sent 
to  the  smelter.  This  was  called  "  barrel  work." 

The  masses  of  copper  found  in  the  earlier  days  have  not 
been  equalled  in  size  in  later  years.  In  fact,  large  masses 
of  copper  are  not  as  profitable  to  find,  owing  to  the  diffi- 
culty and  expense  of  getting  them  out  and  cutting  them 
up.  Among  the  numerous  masses  of  copper,  the  most 
notable  was  found  in  the  Minnesota  mine  in  18  5 7.  It  was 
difficult  to  dislodge  it  from  its  native  bed.  Charges  of 
powder,  first  of  125  pounds,  gradually  increased  to  550 
pounds,  failed  to  dislodge  it.  Finally,  a  charge  of  750 
pounds,  securely  tamped  under  it,  was  fired,  with  the  re- 
sult of  lifting  from  its  bed,  without  fracture,  a  mass  of 
copper  forty-six  feet  long,  eighteen  feet  in  breadth,  and 
nine  feet  thick,  the  latter  two  measurements  being  taken 
at  the  greatest  distance,  the  whole  mass  weighing  about 
500  tons.  In  cutting  it  up  fifteen  tons  of  chips  of  copper 
were  made. 

In  the  early  days  of  mining  there  was  great  difficulty 
experienced  from  the  isolation  of  the  country  and  want  of 
transportation  facilities.  There  were  no  railroads  or  tele- 
graphs, and  the  only  means  of  transportation  was  by 
water.  All  supplies  for  men  and  animals  had  to  be 
brought  up  before  navigation  closed.  The  winters  were 
long  and  severe.  When  once  the  cold  weather  began 


NATIVE  COPPER   IN  MICHIGAN  286 

the  people  were  as  isolated  from  the  rest  of  the  world  as 
the  Laplanders.  For  from  six  to  eight  months  they  had 
little  or  no  communication  from  "  below."  An  occasional 
mail  would  be  brought  in  by  hardy  adventurers  on  snow- 
shoes,  with  dog  trains. 

One  of  the  pioneers  related  to  me  that  the  news  of  the 
first  President  Harrison's  election  in  November,  1840,  and 
of  his  death  the  following  April,  came  in  the  same  mail, 
about  two  months  after  his  death.  With  all  their  trials 
and  deprivations,  those  who  wintered  here  had  many  social 
enjoyments  and  much  real  pleasure.  There  was  much 
good  society  among  those  in  charge  of  the  works,  and 
innumerable  stories  are  told  of  the  good  times  they  had 
in  the  old  days  of  forty  years  ago.  In  those  days  men 
walked  ten  miles  on  snowshoes  to  make  New  Year's 
calls.  A  short  neighborly  call  would  usually  last  at  least 
a  week. 

All  this  is  changed  now.  Railroads,  telegraphs,  tele- 
phones, and  electric  lights,  and  a  greatly  developed  indus- 
try have  inaugurated  a  new  era.  The  theatre  of  principal 
mining  interest  has  changed.  The  greatest  mine  for  many 
years  has  been  the  Calumet  and  Hecla.  The  development 
of  this  mine  began  about  1867.  Its  progress  has  been 
wonderful,  and  to-day  it  ranks  as  one  of  the  greatest  cop- 
per mines  in  the  world.  Its  works  are  situated  on  what  is 
locally  known  as  the  Calumet  and  Hecla  Conglomerate. 

This  is  a  vein  at  its  mine  of  from  six  to  twenty-eight 
feet  in  thickness,  generally  carrying  copper  interspersed 
through  the  rock,  the  larger  pieces,  with  rare  exceptions, 
usually  weighing  only  a  few  ounces,  and  from  that  of  all 
sizes  down  to  dust  as  fine  as  gold  dust.  No  very  large 
masses  of  copper  have  been  found,  none  worthy  of  notice 
compared  with  those  before  referred  to.  It  is  the  uni- 


286  NATIVE  COPPER   IN  MICHIGAN 

versality  of  the  small  pieces  of  copper  through  such  a 
vast  quantity  of  rock  that  makes  the  marvellous  wealth  of 
this  mine,  although  in  their  explorations  the  workmen 
have  found  long  stretches  of  rock  too  lean  to  be  worth 
milling. 

In  some  of  their  shafts  paying  rock  has  been  found 
near  the  surface.  In  their  early  days  they  were  fortu- 
nate in  opening  such  shafts  in  very  rich  rock  near  the  sur- 
face, which  gave  the  company  its  financial  strength,  en- 
abling it  to  pay  good  dividends  and  push  explorations. 
The  shafts  extend  for  about  two  miles  along  the  vein,  and 
are  fourteen  in  number.  Many  of  the  shafts  have  been 
sunk  to  a  great  depth  before  finding  paying  rock.  One 
of  the  latest  explorations  descended  2,300  feet  before  pay- 
ing rock  was  found.  All  of  the  shafts  have  found  paying 
rock  when  pushed  deep  enough,  and  all  are  richer  at  their 
greatest  depth  than  at  the  surface. 

A  study  of  these  results,  as  well  as  of  the  results  at  other 
mines,  has  led  to  the  conclusion  that  the  most  profitable 
mining  is  to  be  found  at  great  depths.  The  method  of 
mining  by  this  company  up  to  this  writing  has  been  to 
sink  their  shafts  down  on  the  slope  of  the  vein.  Captain 
Daniell,  one  of  the  ablest  miners  of  that  country,  who 
has  been  for  twelve  years  in  charge  of  the  Osceola  mine, 
reasoning  out  the  probable  course  and  character  of  this 
wonderful  vein,  backed  by  abundant  capital,  inaugurated 
a  bold  and  original  idea  of  mining.  Selecting  a  location 
beyond  the  lands  of  the  Calumet  and  Hecla  and  above  the 
vein,  he  calculated  that  a  perpendicular  shaft  should  strike 
the  vein  at  a  depth  of  2,300  feet.  It  was  a  bold  enterprise 
to  go  out  into  the  open  country  and  lay  out  the  work  upon 
land  that  showed  no  indications  of  copper  at  the  surface, 
and  enter  upon  a  labor  of  years  to  find  a  vein  of  copper 


NATIVE  COPPER  IN  MICHIGAN  287 

the  continuity  of  which  was  unknown  except  by  logical 
reasoning  from  the  surface  openings  of  the  Calumet  and 
Hecla  mine. 

What  freaks  of  nature  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth  might 
defeat  his  logic  no  man  could  tell.  Patiently,  year  after 
year,  the  work  went  on,  and  at  the  end  of  three  years  and 
four  months  the  expected  vein  was  found,  within  thirty 
feet  of  the  expected  depth.  The  result  was  the  opening 
of  the  famous  Tamarack  mine,  which,  with  other  mines 
now  opening  by  the  same  men,  bids  fair  to  rival  the  Calu- 
met and  Hecla.  The  Tamarack  mine  has  been  in  success- 
ful operation  for  four  years. 

Encouraged  by  this  success,  a  second  shaft  has  been 
sunk  on  the  same  location,  which  has  just  come  into  suc- 
cessful operation  (August,  1890).  The  vein  where  pierced 
by  these  two  shafts  is  of  the  same  general  character  as 
that  in  the  Calumet  and  Hecla.  On  another  location  the 
same  company  has  sunk  two  shafts  to  a  depth  of  2,300 
feet,  but  do  not  expect  to  reach  the  copper  until  November 
next,  at  a  depth  of  about  2,500  feet.  A  third  mine  of  two 
shafts  has  been  commenced  on  still  another  location  and 
has  attained  a  depth  of  only  500  feet,  but  is  expected  to 
be  sunk  about  3,800  feet  before  reaching  copper.  These 
are  bold  departures  from  the  traditional  method  of  min- 
ing in  this  country,  which  heretofore  had  been  to  sink 
on  the  slope  of  the  vein. 

Within  about  two  years  the  Calumet  and  Hecla  com- 
menced an  enormous  vertical  shaft,  intending  to  cut  the 
vein  on  their  land  at  a  point  below  their  present  work- 
ings, at  a  depth  of  about  3,700  feet.  It  will  take  nearly 
two  years  before  this  shaft  can  reach  the  vein.  It  will 
be  interesting  to  note  the  result  of  all  these  unfinished 
works.  If  the  calculations  of  their  projectors  are  not  at 


288  NATIVE   COPPER   IN  MICHIGAN 

fault,  they  will  put  into  the  shade  all  past  achievements  in 
copper  mining  in  this  country. 

Modern  methods  of  mining  and  milling  have  made  great 
advances  over  old  methods.  The  rock  is  no  longer  roasted. 
That  method  was  abandoned  years  ago.  Black  powder 
has  been  superseded  by  high  explosives  that  throw  down 
much  larger  masses  of  rock.  The  hand  drill  has  given 
place  to  drills  driven  by  compressed  air.  All  the  rock  is 
stamped  in  mills  of  great  power.  In  1860  a  report  was 
made  of  a  mill  that  stamped  thirty-three  tons  per  head 
per  day.  Now  a  single  head  will  stamp  260  tons  per  day. 

The  method  of  procedure  is  to  raise  the  rock  to  the  sur- 
face in  such  lumps  as  it  is  left  in  by  the  blast  in  the  mine. 
Here  the  large  pieces  are  put  through  stone  crushers  that 
break  it  into  lumps  not  larger  than  a  man's  fist.  It  is  then 
dumped  into  cars  and  taken  about  four  miles  to  the  border 
of  a  small  lake,  where  it  is  stamped  and  washed,  a  process 
called  milling.  After  the  earthy  matter  is  worked  out 
as  far  as  practicable,  it  is  sent  to  the  smelter,  where  it  is 
cast  into  the  various  forms  of  copper  required  in  the  mar- 
kets of  the  world. 

It  is  difficult  in  a  few  words  to  give  an  idea  of  the  mag- 
nitude of  these  operations.  The  details  would  be  tire- 
some. A  few  facts  will  serve  in  some  measure  as  indices 
to  lead  the  mind  to  comprehend  the  subject.  The  people 
who  live  almost  together  upon  the  group  of  mines,  of 
which  the  Calumet  and  Hecla  is  the  principal  one,  num- 
ber about  12,000,  all  of  whom  are  either  directly  or  in- 
directly supported  by  the  mines.  About  half  as  many 
more  are  supported  around  the  mills  and  smelting  works. 

All  the  mines  have  to  pump  water  up  to  their  mills  to 
wash  the  earthy  matter  from  the  copper.  The  amount  of 
water  pumped  daily  by  the  Calumet  and  Hecla  to  its  mill 


NATIVE  COPPER  IN  MICHIGAN  289 

is  about  34,000,000  gallons,  a  good  supply  for  a  city.  But 
more  than  this,  this  company  has  nearly  completed  a  pump 
that  will  throw  about  50,000,000  gallons  a  day,  or  an 
amount  in  excess  of  half  the  water  supply  of  the  great  city 
of  New  York  prior  to  July,  1890.  The  dividends  this  com- 
pany has  made  to  its  stockholders  exceed  $35,000,000. 
It  is  only  by  such  comparisons  that  the  mind  of  the  gen- 
eral reader  is  brought  to  a  comprehension  of  these  great 
works. 

The  amount  of  sand  washed  into  the  Portage  Lake  be- 
came so  great  that  it  threatened  to  stop  navigation,  and 
the  United  States  government  has  had  to  interfere  and 
prevent  further  use  of  the  lake.  Many  acres  of  made 
land  are  now  in  the  lake  from  these  washings.  At  present 
most  of  the  mills  are  on  Torch  Lake,  but  the  time  will 
come  when  Lake  Superior  will  have  to  be  the  dumping 
ground. 

The  Calumet  and  Hecla  sends  daily  to  the  smelting 
works  about  135  tons  of  mineral,  as  the  copper  is  called 
after  stamping  and  washing,  which  when  smelted  will 
produce  about  ninety-five  tons  of  pure  copper  daily.  The 
greatest  depth  of  the  Calumet  and  Hecla  is  over  3,000 
feet,  and  the  greatest  depth  of  the  Tamarack  is  about 
2,850  feet.  These  two  mines,  the  greatest  producers,  are 
selected  by  way  of  illustration.  Proper  limits  forbid 
further  details  in  this  paper,  although  the  operations  of 
the  Quincy,  the  Atlantic,  the  Osceola,  and  others  would  be 
interesting. 

The  native  copper  of  these  mines  is  the  only  consider- 
able body  of  such  copper  yet  found  in  the  world.  The 
character  of  the  mines  improves  the  greater  the  depths 
to  which  they  are  worked.  In  this  respect  this  district  is 
different  from  many  others.  The  Cornwall  mines  of  Eng- 
19 


290  NATIVE   COPPER   IN  MICHIGAN 

land  gradually  changed  to  tin  mines  as  they  went  down. 
In  Montana  the  mines  are  of  decreasing  value  when 
worked  below  the  water  level  of  the  country.  The  Chilian 
mines,  that  once  dictated  the  price  of  copper  for  the 
world,  can  no  longer  be  worked  with  much  profit,  and  are 
not  a  serious  factor  in  the  market.  The  native  copper  of 
Michigan  has  more  tensile  strength  and  greater  conduc- 
tivity for  electrical  purposes  than  any  other.  It  commands 
the  highest  price  in  the  market,  for  its  better  adaptability 
for  many  kinds  of  manufacturing  purposes. 

In  the  deep  mining  of  this  country  no  particular  change 
is  noticed  in  the  temperature  of  the  mines  as  they  go  down. 
Water  is  not  encountered  in  troublesome  quantities.  The 
veins  seem  to  be  almost  hermetically  sealed.  These  are  all 
favorable  conditions  for  mining.  A  striking  feature  of 
these  improvements  is  the  ponderous  machinery,  engines, 
pumps,  stamps,  and  fly-wheels,  as  fine  as  any  in  the  world, 
housed  in  large  brick  and  stone  buildings  with  iron  roofs. 
All  this  in  a  place  where  the  "  forest  primeval "  stood  in 
its  solemn  stillness  thirty  years  ago.  The  trees  were 
of  phenomenal  size,  and  the  sunshine  hardly  penetrated 
their  close  and  tangled  growth.  Even  now  the  stumps 
have  to  be  grubbed  out  to  make  way  for  advancing  im- 
provements. 

Such  are  the  Lake  Superior  copper  mines  as  they  ap- 
peared to  me  in  my  leisure  hours  of  outing  in  1890.  Great 
as  have  been  their  strides  in  the  past,  it  seems  to  me  that 
the  men  in  charge  are  just  beginning  to  understand  the 
business  and  the  country.  Wonderful  as  the  improvements 
have  been,  others  are  to  follow.  Advanced  thinkers  are* 
looking  forward  to  the  time  when  electricity  will  come  to 
their  aid  to  drive  their  drills  and  perhaps  light  these  sub- 
terranean caverns.  The  time  will  also  come  when  a  limit 


NATIVE  COPPER  IN  MICHIGAN  291 

will  be  reached  for  hoisting  by  steam  power  from  the 
surface. 

When  I  suggested  this  difficulty  to  Captain  Daniell  his 
quick  response  was :  "  Electricity  can  be  used  to  bring  the 
ore  within  reach  of  a  surface  hoist."  At  the  suggestion 
of  expense  he  said :  "  That  is  not  a  very  material  factor." 
His  answer  suggested  large  thoughts  of  future  possibili- 
ties. It  is  refreshing  to  get  away  from  the  rut  of  metro- 
politan life  and  be  with  men  who  are  doing  the  really  big 
things  in  this  world — stalwart  thinkers  who  form  great 
plans  and  patiently  carry  them  out.  Whenever  a  just 
estimate  of  the  really  great  men  of  the  land  is  made  up, 
a  successful  mining  captain  or  superintendent  will  hold 
no  mean  rank. 

New  York,  August,  1890. 


ARGUMENT    BEFORE    THE    LEGISLATURE    IN 
FAVOR  OF  AN  EAST  RIVER  BRIDGE 

At  first  blush  the  building  of  an  East  River  railroad 
bridge  by  the  Long  Island  Railroad  Company  would  seem 
to  be  a  bold  enterprise,  hardly  justified  by  the  situation. 
An  examination,  however,  shows  that  such  is  not  the  fact. 
The  day  is  passed  when  service  by  ferry,  through  fogs 
and  ice,  is  to  be  endured  longer  by  the  travelling  public, 
with  the  changes  and  annoyances  attendant  upon  reach- 
ing the  river  front,  if  there  is  a  practicable  way  of  avoid- 
ing such  annoyances.  The  two  questions  are : 

First,  the  physical  difficulties;  and, 

Secondly,  the  financial  question  of  its  being  a  safe  en- 
terprise for  investors. 

The  plan  of  the  proposed  bridge  and  railroad,  in  a  few 
words,  is  to  start  on  Park  Avenue  at  some  suitable  point 
between  Thirty-fourth  Street  and  Forty-second  Street,  with 
a  large  passenger  depot  so  constructed  that  the  trains  run 
into  the  second  story;  thence  running  by  a  viaduct  or  ele- 
vated road  to  the  river  front,  spanning  the  river,  with  two 
piers  in  the  middle,  to  the  east  side,  and  thence  on  a  via- 
duct or  elevated  road  to  Laurel  Hill,  Long  Island. 

That  such  a  mode  of  transportation  would  be  of  the 
greatest  public  convenience  is  not  open  to  debate.  The 
effect  would  be  to  enable  all  citizens  of  New  York  to  pro- 
ceed with  the  greatest  comfort  and  the  greatest  rapidity 
to  the  most  magnificent  stretch  of  beach  and  healthy  land 
that  lies  approximate  to  any  city  in  the  world. 


ARGUMENT  FOR  AN  EAST  RIVER  BRIDGE  293 

In  spanning  the  river  a  pier  will  be  erected  on  the  New 
York  side,  on  the  bulkhead  line.  The  next  pier  will  be 
built  on  what  is  known  as  Man-of-War  Rock,  a  dangerous 
reef  in  the  middle  of  the  East  River  that  is  uncovered  at 
very  low  tide.  This  would  leave  the  channel  between  New 
York  and  Man-of-War  Rock  of  the  same  width  that  it  is 
at  this  time,  a  distance  of  1,000  feet.  A  second  pier  would 
be  placed  in  the  water  east  of  this  rock,  leaving  a  space 
of  1,100  feet  for  the  channel  between  that  pier  and  the 
Long  Island  side.  The  average  channel  on  each  side  of 
Blackwell's  Island  is  not  to  exceed  800  feet,  and  in  many 
instances  it  is  100  feet  less  than  that,  while  the  channel 
through  Hell  Gate  that  is  available  is  in  many  instances 
only  about  400  or  500  feet,  so  that  there  would  be  no 
obstructions  to  navigation  through  such  structure. 

Every  great  enterprise  that  has  been  undertaken  for 
the  purpose  of  affording  facilities  for  travel  has  in  a  short 
time  been  taxed  beyond  its  capacity  and  beyond  the  most 
sanguine  expectations  of  its  projectors.  No  better  illus- 
tration of  this  can  be  found  than  in  the  statistics  of  the 
passengers  carried  and  the  earnings  of  the  Brooklyn 
Bridge,  as  shown  by  the  following  table : 

Passengers  carried 

over  Bridge.  Earnings. 

1883  (6  months) 1,082,500  $54,115  00 

1884 8,528,840  426,486  00 

1885 17,023,237  537,435  09 

1886 24,029,267  661,361  51 

1887 27,940,313  768,768  69 

1888 30,331,283  833,760  34 

1889 33,954,773  931,973  39 

1890 37,676,411  1,032,014  23 

Total 180,566,624  $5,245,914  25 


294  ARGUMENT  FOR  AN  EAST  RIVER  BRIDGE 

Another  striking  illustration  of  the  rapidity  with  which 
the  public  avails  itself  of  any  increased  facilities  for  travel 
is  shown  by  the  growth  of  the  passenger  traffic  on  the  ele- 
vated railroads.  The  following  table  illustrates  such 
growth : 

For  the  year  ending  September  30,  1884 96,702,620 

"  "  "  1885 103,354,729 

"  "  "  1886 115,109,591 

"  "  "  1887 158,963,232 

"  "  "-  1888 171,529,789 

"  "  "  1889 179,497,433 

"  "  "  1890 188,203,877 

During  the  year  1890  there  were  carried  across  the 
various  ferries  on  the  East  Kiver  88,663,509  passengers, 
and  across  the  North  River  for  the  same  period,  84,663,- 
400  passengers,  making  a  grand  total  of  173,326,909 
passengers  carried  on  the  several  ferries  from  this  city. 

Notwithstanding  the  enormous  traffic  that  has  been  car- 
ried on  the  elevated  railroads,  there  has  been  a  large  in- 
crease in  the  travel  upon  the  horse-car  lines  of  the  city 
of  New  York,  as  shown  by  the  following  table : 

Number  of  passengers  carried  on  horse-car  lines  in 
New  York  City. 

1884 169,147,493 

1885 190,836,475 

1886 209,627,823 

1887 203,182,092 

1888 199,357,525 

1889 208,504,703 

No  thoughtful  person  hesitates  to  believe  that  the 
population  of  New  York  in  the  near  future  will  be  as 


ARGUMENT  FOR  AN  EAST  RIVER  BRIDGE  295 

large  as,  or  will  be  larger  than,  the  present  population  of 
London.  London  is  situated  upon  a  comparatively  small 
island.  New  York  has  an  open  territory  behind  it  to  the 
Pacific  Coast  of  3,000  miles  in  extent,  that  is  growing 
and  developing  with  accelerated  speed,  to  sustain  and 
promote  the  growth  of  this  city. 

Long  before  the  bridge  can  be  constructed  there  will 
be  a  demand  for  its  use  much  greater  than  exists  at  this 
day.  Immediately  upon  its  opening,  this  demand  will  be 
greatly  stimulated. 

The  growth  and  prosperity  of  London  depend  upon 
the  fact  that  bold  engineering  enterprises  have  pointed 
out  a  way  to  bring  railway  trains  to  the  heart  of  the  city 
without  interfering  with  the  comfort  of  the  people.  It 
would  be  impossible  for  London  to  be  London  without 
these  great  works. 

As  a  matter  of  State  pride  it  is  desirable  that  the  prop- 
erty and  the  development  should  be  upon  the  soil  of  the 
State  of  New  York  rather  than  upon  that  of  a  neighbor- 
ing State. 

No  objection  can  now  be  raised  to  the  proposed  bridge 
spanning  the  East  River  at  an  elevation  of  135  feet  above 
the  water  at  mean  high  tide.  One  bridge  having  been 
built  and  others  having  been  authorized,  the  time  is  fully 
ripe  for  affording  every  reasonable  facility  that  can  be 
given  between  New  York  and  Long  Island.  No  one  doubts 
the  necessity  and  desirability  of  leaving  the  navigation  of 
the  North  River  unobstructed,  but  this  bridge  adds  nothing 
in  the  way  of  obstruction  to  the  river.  While  river  navi- 
gation has  in  the  popular  mind  and  in  the  minds  of  those 
interested  in  river  navigation  been  held  to  be  something 
almost  sacred,  nevertheless  modern  progress  and  the  con- 
ditions of  modern  civilization  require  that  while  the  rights 


296  ARGUMENT  FOR  AN  EAST  RIVER  BRIDGE 

of  navigation  should  be  carefully  respected  and  preserved, 
the  greater  mode  of  transportation  by  railroads,  which 
is  also  a  matter  of  the  largest  public  interest,  shall  also 
be  facilitated  to  the  largest  possible  extent.  The  two  can 
and  should  be  made  to  harmonize.  There  are  various 
great  waterways  in  this  country  that  have  opposed  the 
construction  of  railroad  bridges,  but  the  requirements  of 
railroad  transportation  have  overcome  those  objections, 
and  bridges  have  been  constructed,  and  it  has  been  found 
to  be  possible  to  harmonize  whatever  conflicting  interest 
there  may  have  been  between  those  two  great  methods  of 
transportation,  so  as  not  to  injure  the  waterways  nor  to 
impede  the  railway — notably  the  numerous  bridges  across 
the  Mississippi  and  Ohio  Rivers,  and  the  bridges  across  the 
Hudson  River,  particularly  the  Poughkeepsie  Bridge, 
where  piers  are  sunk  in  the  middle  of  the  river.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  navigation  of  the  Hudson  River  goes 
on  just  as  before,  without  difficulty,  with  the  Poughkeep- 
sie Bridge  built  across  the  river. 

In  the  construction  of  the  East  River  Bridge  it  is  per- 
fectly understood  that  it  must  be  authorized  by  the  au- 
thorities of  the  United  States;  and  while  this  legislature 
can  take  one  step,  and  a  necessary  step,  in  that  direction, 
there  must  be  a  concurrence  of  the  authorities  of  the 
general  government  and  also  of  the  authorities  of  the  two 
cities  through  which  the  structure  is  to  be  built. 

Bold  and  expensive  as  the  enterprise  is,  it  was  not 
deemed  advisable  nor  desirable  to  ask  any  concessions  by 
way  of  exemption  from  taxation  to  promote  the  enterprise. 
All  the  property  that  will  be  acquired  and  all  the  struc- 
tures built  will  remain  subject  to  taxation  precisely  the 
same  as  other  like  property  is  taxed  within  the  State.  The 
only  favor  asked  is  that  capital  may  be  permitted  to  build 


ARGUMENT  FOR  AN  EAST  RIVER  BRIDGE  297 

the  structure,  and  that  it  may  not  be  hampered  or  em- 
barrassed so  as  to  prevent  its  being  constructed,  and  that 
it  may  have  the  same  chance  that  other  enterprises  have 
that  are  for  the  benefit  of  the  public  and  the  benefit  of 
the  investors. 

Bold  as  the  enterprise  is,  it  is  sound  as  a  matter  of  pub- 
lic policy  and  sound  as  a  financial  venture,  if  it  is  per- 
mitted to  go  on  without  unnatural  and  unjust  limitation. 

This  enterprise  is  of  the  greatest  importance  to  the  de- 
velopment and  growth  of  the  city  of  Brooklyn.  As  a  con- 
sequence of  building  the  bridge,  Brooklyn  will  be  put  in 
immediate  and  close  connection  by  rail  with  the  great  lines 
of  railroad  that  run  east,  north,  and  west  from  the  Grand 
Central  depot.  Whether  Brooklyn  shall  ultimately  become 
a  part  of  the  Greater  New  York  of  the  future,  the  mate- 
rial advantages  will  accrue  just  the  same  to  that  locality 
if  it  shall  continue  a  separate  municipality  instead  of  form- 
ing a  part  of  New  York. 

The  growth  of  travel  on  the  Long  Island  Railroad  is  an 
illustration  of  how  improved  facilities  have  been  accepted 
and  used  by  the  public  and  have  become  necessities  for 
their  accommodation  and  comfort.  In  1876  the  total  re- 
ceipts of  all  the  roads  now  constituting  the  system  com- 
bined in  the  Long  Island  Railroad,  with  slight  increase 
of  mileage,  was  only  about  $1,500,000.  As  increased 
facilities  have  been  given  to  the  island  the  business  has 
increased  with  steady  progress,  until  the  last  fiscal  year 
showed  an  income  of  over  $4,000,000.  The  road  has  been 
handicapped  in  its  growth  and  development  by  the  annoy- 
ances and  difficulties  of  ferry  transportation.  While  the 
natural  growth  will  undoubtedly  go  on  in  the  future  as 
it  has  in  the  past,  with  such  increased  facilities  as  must 
of  necessity  be  provided  for  it,  it  will  be  apparent  to  any 


298          ARGUMENT  FOR  AN  EAST  RIVER  BRIDGE 

one  who  will  reflect  that  if  the  annoyances  of  approaches 
to  the  ferries  and  of  passing  through  Long  Island  City 
along  Newtown  Creek  can  all  be  removed,  the  measure 
of  past  increase  will  be  no  guide  to  the  future  increase. 

The  number  of  passengers,  as  returned  to  the  Railroad 
Commissioners,  carried  over  the  Long  Island  Railroad 
each  year,  is  shown  by  the  following  table : 

Number  of  passen- 
gers carried. 

Year  ending  September  30,  1881 6,512,270 

"  "  "  "  1882 8,878,453 

"  "  "  "  1883 9,024,370 

"  "  "  "  1884 9,326,747 

"  "  "  "  1885 10,057,713 

"  "  "  "  1886 10,458,896 

"  "  "  "  1887 11,900,022 

"  "  "  "  1888 12,234,083 

"  "  June  "  1889 12,439,759 

"  "  "  "  1890 13,139,691 

"  "  "  "  1891 14,269,180 

This  enterprise  comes  to  the  legislature,  not  with  the 
desire  to  secure  a  franchise  for  the  purpose  of  sale,  or  to 
be  in  the  way  of  any  other  enterprise,  but  it  comes  here 
backed  by  the  capital  and  resources  of  the  Long  Island 
Railroad.  It  does  not  seek  to  interfere  with  any  other 
bridge  enterprise.  The  character  of  the  work  it  proposes 
to  do  is  the  transportation  of  passengers  upon  railroads. 
It  does  not  propose  to  carry  foot  passengers  or  teams,  but 
leaves  that  field  to  any  capitalist  who  may  seek  to  build 
a  bridge  for  that  character  of  service.  It  would  be  per- 
fectly consistent,  in  granting  this  franchise  for  the  pur- 
poses that  it  is  desired  for  the  Long  Island  Railroad,  to 


ARGUMENT  FOR  AN  EAST  RIVER  BRIDGE  299 

also  charter  another  bridge  to  perform  the  work  now  per- 
formed by  the  Brooklyn  Bridge.  The  two  would  be  in 
perfect  harmony.  In  the  near  future  there  will  be  a  large 
city  in  the  territory  between  the  East  River  and  Mushing 
Bay  that  will  require  a  bridge  for  the  local  business,  and 
the  granting  of  the  franchise  for  such  a  bridge  would  not 
in  the  slightest  degree  interfere  with  this  enterprise,  nor 
would  it  meet  with  any  opposition  from  the  promoters  of 
this  bridge. 

New  York,  1892. 


THE  EEAL  VALUE  OF  COIN 

It  is  Fixed  by  the  Value  of  the  Bullion  in  it,  not  by  Laws 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Tribune: 

Sir — It  cannot  be  too  often  pressed  upon  the  attention 
of  the  people  that  in  the  great  markets  of  the  world  gold 
and  silver,  whether  coined  or  uncoined,  pass  only  at  their 
bullion  value.  The  stamps  and  marks  upon  each  par- 
ticular piece  pass  for  nothing,  no  matter  in  what  mint  it 
is  coined.  If  $1,000,000  or  £1,000,000  are  paid  in  any 
great  centre  of  trade — say  London  or  Paris — the  money 
is  never  counted,  but  weighed,  and  taken  at  a  fixed  price 
per  pound.  A  bar  of  gold  of  standard  weight  and  fineness 
is  just  as  valuable  as  a  like  weight  of  coins  from  the  mint. 
The  gold  coins  of  the  English  mint  are  treated  precisely 
the  same  in  the  Bank  of  England  as  are  the  coins  of  the 
United  States,  France,  or  any  other  country.  Weight 
and  fineness  are  the  supreme  tests.  Marks  of  value  placed 
on  the  coins  by  the  different  countries  are  of  no  moment. 
Silver  is  treated  in  the  same  way.  Coined  silver  has  no 
value  over  bar  silver  in  the  channels  of  trade  in  the 
world.  A  considerable  amount  of  silver  in  every  country 
has  a  fictitious  value  because  it  is  the  only  metal  that  it  is 
practicable  to  coin  into  small  enough  pieces  for  the  small 
every-day  transactions  of  the  people  of  each  country. 
Some  gold  nations  carry  more  silver  and  some  less  in  this 
way,  in  proportion  to  population.  The  silver  advocates 
constantly  ignore  the  bullion  value  of  coined  silver  dollars, 


THE  REAL  VALUE  OF  COIN  801 

and  talk  about  them  as  if  by  some  potent  mysterious  power 
the  government  could,  by  melting  and  forming  the  bullion 
into  coin  with  marks  on  it,  interject  some  new  value  into 
the  silver.  This  is  a  great  and  mysterious  feat  for  a  gov- 
ernment to  perform. 

Somebody  will  certainly  try  to  find  out  the  ultimate 
factor  in  this  great  event.  To  solve  the  problem  we  would 
suggest  that  the  owner  of  a  new  ten-dollar  gold  piece  and 
of  ten  new  silver  dollars  put  the  gold  piece  in  a  crucible 
and  melt  it  down;  then  put  the  ten  silver  dollars  in  an- 
other crucible  and  melt  them  down,  and  look  for  the  re- 
sult. He  will  find  that  his  gold  will  still  be  worth  ten 
dollars  in  the  markets  of  the  world,  but  his  silver  will  be 
worth  only  five  dollars.  Curious  result !  An  interesting 
thing  has  happened  from  a  scientific  point  of  view,  al- 
though rather  startling  from  a  financial  point  of  view. 
No  value  gone  out  of  one  metal  by  melting  it,  and  five 
dollars  gone  out  of  the  other  by  the  same  process.  The 
curious  inquirer  will  ask,  "  What  is  the  virtue  that  has 
gone  out  of  one  metal  and  not  out  of  the  other  by  melting 
it  down  ?  "  He  will  be  likely  to  conclude  that  the  lost 
five  dollars  in  the  silver  is  a  pretty  elusive  substance, 
rather  "  gassy  "  for  banking  purposes  or  to  use  in  dealings 
in  the  markets  of  the  world. 

Our  experimenter  is  out  five  dollars  now  by  his  opera- 
tions. We  can  suppose  that  he  now  applies  to  Mr.  Bryan 
to  know  what  he  shall  do.  Mr.  Bryan  would  probably 
say :  "  That  is  easy  to  remedy  when  we  get  free  coinage. 
Take  your  gold  and  silver  back  to  the  mint  and  have  it 
recoined;  bullion  value  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  value 
of  money."  Upon  reminting  the  gold  and  silver  a  won- 
derful result  again  appears.  The  gold  comes  out  just  ten 
dollars,  and  the  silver  comes  out  apparently  just  ten  dol- 


302  THE  REAL  VALUE  OF  COIN 

lars.  It  is  rather  puzzling  to  find  out  how  it  has  happened 
that  the  gold  has  passed  through  the  fire  twice  without 
change  of  value,  while  the  silver  was  reduced  to  its 
bullion  value  of  five  dollars  by  fire  and  raised  again  to 
ten  dollars  by  coining  it.  There  can  be  but  one  solution 
to  this  riddle.  It  is  in  the  inherent  power  of  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States.  They  can  pass  an  act  and  force  into 
a  piece  of  silver  worth  fifty  cents  in  gold  a  value  equal  to 
100  cents  in  gold.  It  does  not  look  reasonable,  but  Mr. 
Bryan  said  he  "  believed  "  that  would  be  the  result.  Is 
not  that  enough  for  any  reasonable  man  ? 

Yes,  Congress  must  have  the  power  to  take  a  com- 
modity that  has  only  a  commercial  value  by  weight  in 
the  markets  of  the  world,  and  by  its  own  fiat  double  its 
value.  At  least  such  seems  to  be  the  only  reasonable 
conclusion  from  the  silver  advocates'  premises. 

But  here  comes  another  question:  Why  all  this  bother 
about  sixteen  to  one?  If  Congress  is  omnipotent  to  fix 
value  regardless  of  bullion  value,  why  not  make  it  eight 
to  one?  It  seems  just  as  easy  to  stamp  the  quantity  of 
silver  in  a  half  dollar  with  the  stamp  of  one  dollar  and 
so  make  it  a  dollar.  The  same  inherent  power  that  can 
go  half  way  can  surely  take  the  next  step  and  go  all  the 
way.  By  this  step  we  could  double  our  silver  money  at 
one  bound. 

Of  course  the  idea  of  the  Old  World  that  all  money, 
gold  and  silver,  should  be  weighed,  and  its  bullion  value 
found  out,  would  bother  us  for  a  time  in  the  markets  of 
the  world,  where  the  surplus  cotton  and  wheat  are  to  be 
sold.  This  little  matter  does  not  seem  to  trouble  the 
silver  advocates. 

All  this  trouble  about  a  gold  standard  of  value  in  coin, 
according  to  the  silver  advocates,  seems  to  have  its  root 


THE  REAL  VALUE  OF  COIN  303 

in  the  idea  that  farm  products  are  too  low,  chiefly  the 
great  staples  of  cotton  and  wheat.  In  their  arguments 
they  ignore  the  interests  of  the  mine  owners.  Why  not 
invoke  the  inherent  power  of  Congress  to  increase  values 
in  another  way,  by  fixing  a  new  standard  of  measure? 
Make  half  a  bushel  of  wheat  a  bushel,  a  half  pound  of 
cotton  a  pound!  This  would  apparently  double  the  prod- 
ucts of  those  staples.  The  only  trouble  the  producers 
would  meet  when  they  appeared  in  the  foreign  markets 
with  their  surplus  products  would  be  that  the  foreign 
purchasers  would  insist  upon  applying  the  same  rule  they 
do  to  gold  and  silver,  and  weigh  the  stuff.  That  little 
difficulty  ought  not  to  baffle  the  silver  philosophers. 

The  mistake  our  free-silver  advocates  make  is  in  mis- 
taking the  function  of  a  government  in  the  act  of  coining 
metal.  It  is  simply  the  act  of  an  honest  and  trusted  agent 
to  weigh  and  mark  each  piece  of  coin  and  certify  to  its 
weight  and  fineness.  After  that  its  value  is  determined 
in  the  marts  of  trade.  It  is  true  that  Congress  can  decide 
what  shall  be  legal  tender,  and  in  law  the  coins  they  de- 
clare shall  be  legal  tender  will  be  legal  tender.  There  is 
a  wide  difference  between  value  for  legal  tender  and  value 
in  trade.  One  is  compulsory  by  law  for  a  special  purpose, 
the  other  value  is  determined  by  the  consensus  of  opinion 
of  mankind  in  trade.  It  is  by  the  latter  standard  that  real 
value  is  fixed. 

To  illustrate :  Suppose  we  finally  go  upon  a  silver  basis. 
The  law  would  still  stand  that  both  metals  could  be  legal 
tender,  and  for  that  purpose  be  equal.  But  if  gold  should 
go  to  a  premium  of  say  100  per  cent.,  how  long  would  it 
take  for  everybody  to  know  that  gold  was  worth  more 
than  silver,  in  spite  of  the  act  of  Congress?  Turn  the 
question  as  you  will,  actual  value  cannot  be  created  by 


5s:-t  THE  RE  AT.  VALUE  OF  COIN 

act  of  Congress.  There  is  a  law  above  and  beyond  that 
body  that  fixes  actual  value.  Happy  is  the  country  all  of 
whose  coins  conform  to  this  supreme  standard ! 

Compulsory  free  coinage  means  the  adoption  of  silver 
as  the  unit  of  measure  o£  all  values.  If  the  silver  advo- 
cates who  understood  the  subject  were  honest,  they  would 
go  to  the  people  with  the  issue  stated  in  its  true  form. 
To  put  it  lih«U[y  and  plainly,  so  that  common  people  can 
understand,  they  would  say.  "  Our  purpose  is  to  adopt  a 
silver  standard.**  Every  advanced  civilized  nation  has 
•fendoned  silver  as  .-  rtOHfavd,  baoun  :~  hat  ben  tried 
and  found  wanting  in  that  essential  of  a  standard,  fixity 
of  value.  In  commerce  it  has  been  found  to  have  the 
same  fault  that  rubber  has  for  tapelines — too  elastic,  too 
uncertain.  The  South  and  the  West  have  been  clamorous 
for  a  foreign  market  for  their  products.  They  will  find 
out  that  they  will  have  to  come  to  the  hated  gold  standard 
in  those  markets,  whatever  this  government  may  do. 

The  largest  experience  and  most  advanced  thought  have 
decided  that  there  is  no  other  standard.  Our  money  will 
be  put  on  the  scales  and  weighed,  and  wiH  be  received  at 
just  its  bullion  value,  not  m,  "farthing  more.  Congress  is 
powerless  to  decree  it  otherwise.  So  far  as  the  outside 
world  is  concerned,  we  can  gain  nothing  out  of  free-silver 
coinage.  The  scales  wiH  detect  and  throw  out  every  false 
estimate  and  mark  we  may  put  upon  silver.  We  shall 
step  down  from  our  proud  position  as  one  of  the  foremost 
nations  of  the  globe.  Upon  ourselves  the  blow  will  be 
felt  most  severely.  The  first  to  feel  its  effect  will  be  the 
Mulling  man.  Xone  will  escape.  To  vote  for  compulsory 
free  coinage  is  to  vote  for  financial  chaos,  with  all  the 
and  suffering  involved  in  that  condition  of  things. 

A  word  of  exhortation  to  my  countrymen.    Ponder  long 


THE  REAL  VALUE  OF  COIN 

and  deeply  before  yon  take  this  -wild  leap  into  fi 
chaos.  A  lifetime  of  regrets  will  not  atone  for  such  a 
mistake.  Don?t  think  for  an  instant  that  it  is  a  matter  of 
small  moment  how  you  rote.  The  spark  that  flies  into  the 
magazine  is  small,  but  the  destructive  explosion  is  tre- 
mendous. Dallying  with  silver  for  twenty-three  JOB* 
has  brought  us  to  the  brink  of  ruin. 

The  Bland  law  compelling  the  coinage  of  silver  was  the 
entering  wedge  of  all  our  silver  troubles.  We  have  gone 
too  far  on  that  road  already.  It  is  time  to  retrace  our 
steps  and  take  our  stand  upon  firm  ground,  where  all  the 
substantial  interests  of  the  civilized  world  stand  to-day. 
The  Pope's  bull  against  the  comet  was  a  more  defensible 
proceeding  than  the  task  the  free-silver  advocates  have 
undertaken,  for  the  reason  that  if  the  bull  did  no  good 
it  did  no  harm.  Who  will  undertake  to  estimate  the 
damage  that  will  be  done  if  these  misguided  men  meceed 
in  placing  this  country  on  a  silver  basis,  unsettling  all 
values  in  this  vast  country,  and  taking  it  out  of  the  ranks 
of  the  foremost  nations  of  the  world  I 

!Sew  York,  1896. 
90 


OPINION  IN  CASE  OF  JOHN  MOST  THE 
ANAKCHIST 

The  men  who  framed  the  Penal  Code  of  the  State  of 
New  York  undertook  to  specify  all  the  crimes  known 
to  the  law,  to  state  their  character,  whether  felonies  or 
misdemeanors,  and  to  provide  a  penalty  in  each  class  of 
crimes  by  naming  a  minimum  and  maximum  penalty  in 
most  cases.  The  attempt  to  thus  codify  the  criminal  law 
was  declared  by  many  able  jurists  an  impossible  under- 
taking. It  was  argued  that  the  system  of  laws  called  the 
common  law  was  the  accumulated  wisdom  of  ages ;  that  it 
was  flexible  and  able  to  adapt  itself  to  every  new  manifes- 
tation of  crime  that  might  appear,  keeping  within  the 
spirit  of  established  principles  of  justice,  but  always  able 
to  cope  with  any  form  of  crime  that  might  develop.  That 
there  was  great  force  to  this  objection  was  felt  by  the 
codifiers  and  by  all  jurists.  They  knew  the  infirmity  of 
language  and  the  fallibility  of  the  human  intellect  in 
undertaking  to  define  in  precise  terms  every  crime.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  common  law  of  crimes  was  in  many  re- 
spects overgrown  with  a  multitude  of  precedents  and  de- 
cisions, and  its  roots  ran  back  through  so  many  centuries 
of  time  that  it  was  only  to  be  learned  by  wading  through 
a  mass  of  books  so  great  that  there  was  much  difficulty  in 
some  cases  in  determining  what  was  the  common  law. 
After  framing  674  sections  of  the  Penal  Code,  specifying 
crimes  and  punishments  as  completely  and  fully  as  the 


CASE  OF  JOHN  MOST  THE  ANARCHIST  307 

codifiers  were  able  to  state  them,  they  framed  the  675th 
section,  which  contains  these  words : 

"  A  person  who  wilfully  and  wrongfully  commits  any 
act  which  seriously  injures  the  person  or  property  of  an- 
other, or  which  seriously  disturbs  or  endangers  the  public 
peace  or  health,  or  which  openly  outrages  public  decency, 
for  which  no  other  punishment  is  expressly  prescribed  by 
this  code,  is  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor." 

The  plain  and  obvious  intent  of  this  was  to  leave  in 
the  code  a  little  of  the  flexibility  of  the  common  law  to 
meet  cases  which  they  had  failed  to  specify  in  the  preced- 
ing sections.  That  the  words  of  this  part  of  the  section  are 
general  is  just  what  might  be  expected  from  the  nature  of 
the  case.  The  purpose  of  the  section  is  to  try  offenders  for 
something  not  "  expressly  prescribed  by  this  code."  If 
the  offence  was  one  expressly  prescribed  by  the  code,  then 
clearly  the  offender  must  be  tried  under  the  section  pre- 
scribing it.  It  is  only  offences  not  prescribed  in  the  code 
that  can  be  tried  under  this  section.  This  section  is  the 
legislative  mandate  and  warrant  for  courts  to  look  out- 
side of  all  the  other  sections  of  the  code  to  discover 
offences  not  specified  in  the  code.  Otherwise  the  section 
is  meaningless.  It  is  fair  to  presume  that  the  legislature 
thought  that  crimes  would  crop  up  that  would  "  seriously 
injure  the  person  or  property  of  another,"  or  "  seriously 
disturb  or  endanger  the  public  peace,"  or  "  openly  out- 
rage public  decency,"  that  were  not  mentioned  in  the 
body  of  the  code,  and  so  this  commission  was  issued  to 
the  courts  to  explore  such  new  fields  of  crime  as  they  may 
appear  from  time  to  time. 

We  are,  therefore,  brought  face  to  face  with  the  ques- 
tion whether  the  acts  charged  in  the  information  in  this 


308  CASE   OF  JOHN  MOST  THE  ANARCHIST 

case  are  criminal  acts  within  the  spirit  and  intent  of  this 
section.  That  the  section  is  general  in  its  words  and  not 
specific  was  a  necessity  of  the  purpose  of  this  enactment. 
That  the  crimes  that  come  within  the  range  of  this  law 
are  comparatively  new  and  novel  to  the  law  is  to  be  ex- 
pected. If  it  were  otherwise,  they  would  have  been  speci- 
fied in  the  body  of  the  code.  The  acts  that  might  be  com- 
mitted to  produce  the  results  condemned  by  the  section 
were  not  common  acts  then  generally  known  to  criminal 
laws.  If  the  conditions  of  "  injuries  to  persons  or  prop- 
erty," or  "  serious  disturbance  and  danger  to  the  public 
peace,"  or  "  openly  outrage  of  public  decency,"  are  found 
to  exist,  it  then  becomes  the  duty  of  courts  to  find  the 
author  of  those  conditions  and  punish  him  as  the  law 
directs. 

We  hold  that  the  teachings  of  the  doctrine  of  anarchy 
"  seriously  disturb  or  endanger  the  public  peace,"  and 
also  "  openly  outrage  public  decency."  To  give  this  con- 
struction to  the  law  in  no  way  abridges  the  liberty  of  con- 
science in  matters  of  religion,  nor  the  freedom  of  speech 
on  all  questions  of  government  or  of  social  life,  nor  does 
it  in  any  way  trespass  upon  the  proper  freedom  of  the 
press.  The  point  and  pith  of  the  offence  of  anarchists  is 
that  they  teach  the  doctrine  that  the  pistol,  the  dagger, 
and  dynamite  may  be  used  to  destroy  rulers.  The  teach- 
ing of  such  horrid  methods  of  reaching  an  end  is  the 
offence.  It  is  poor  satisfaction  when  one  of  their  dupes 
has  consummated  the  results  of  their  teaching  to  catch 
him  and  visit  upon  him  the  consequences  of  his  acts.  The 
evil  is  untouched  if  we  stop  there.  In  this  class  of  cases 
the  courts  and  the  public  have  too  long  overlooked  the 
fact  that  crimes  and  offences  are  committed  by  written 
or  spoken  words.  We  have  been  punishing  offenders  in 


CASE   OP  JOHN  MOST  THE  ANARCHIST  309 

other  lines  for  words  spoken  and  written  without  waiting 
for  an  overt  act  of  injury  to  persons  or  property.  The 
press  is  restrained  by  the  law  of  libel  from  the  too  free 
use  of  words.  Individuals  can  be  punished  for  words 
spoken  or  written,  even  though  no  overt  act  of  physical 
injury  follow.  It  is  the  power  of  words  that  is  the  potent 
force  to  commit  crimes  and  offences  in  certain  cases.  No 
more  striking  illustration  of  the  criminal  power  of  words 
could  be  given,  if  we  are  to  believe  the  murderer  of  our 
late  President,  than  that  event  presents.  The  assassin 
declares  that  he  was  instigated  and  stimulated  to  consum- 
mate his  foul  deed  by  the  teachings  of  Emma  Goldman. 
He  is  now  awaiting  execution  for  the  crime,  while  she  is 
still  at  large  in  fancied  security.  A  person  may  advocate 
any  change  of  our  government  by  lawful  and  peaceful 
means,  or  may  criticise  the  conduct  of  its  affairs,  and  get 
as  many  people  to  agree  with  him  as  he  can,  so  long  as  he 
does  not  advocate  the  commission  of  crime  as  the  means 
through  which  he  is  to  attain  his  end.  If  he  advocates 
stealthy  crime  as  the  means  of  reaching  his  end,  he  by  that 
act  commits  a  crime  for  which  he  can  be  punished.  The 
distinction  we  have  tried  to  point  out  has  been  too  long 
overlooked. 

If  our  conclusions  are  sound,  it  is  the  teachers  of  the 
doctrine  who  can  and  ought  to  be  punished.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  trace  and  establish  the  connection  between 
the  teaching  of  anarchy  and  a  particular  crime  of  an  overt 
nature. 

It  is  a  strange  spectacle  in  this  age  for  a  great  nation 
to  stand  mute  and  paralyzed  in  the  presence  of  teachers 
of  crimes  that  are  advocated  only  for  the  purpose  of  de- 
stroying such  nation,  and  for  it  to  have  no  power  to  defend 
against  such  internal  enemies.  We  do  not  believe  the 


310  CASE  OF  JOHN  MOST  THE  ANARCHIST 

arm  of  the  law  is  too  short  to  reach  those  offenders  against 
the  life  of  the  nation  or  too  paralyzed  to  deal  with  them. 
The  liberty  of  conscience,  the  freedom  of  speech,  the  free- 
dom of  the  press,  do  not  need  such  concessions  to  save  to 
the  fullest  extent  unimpaired  those  sacred  rights  of  a  free 
people. 

In  the  case  at  bar  every  fact  stated  in  the  information 
was  conceded  on  the  trial.  The  article  published  in  the 
newspaper  called  the  "  Freiheit,"  annexed  to  the  informa- 
tion, was  printed  in  the  German  language,  but  the  transla- 
tion of  it  was  admitted  by  the  defendant  to  be  correct. 
It  was  also  admitted  that  the  paper  was  published  and 
circulated  in  the  city  and  county  of  New  York,  and  that 
on  the  7th  day  of  September,  1901,  the  date  of  the  issue 
containing  the  article  in  question,  the  defendant  was  the 
publisher  of  said  newspaper;  that  the  article  was  pub- 
lished and  circulated  before  the  assault  on  the  late  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States.  It  was  contended  that  the 
defendant  was  not  the  author  of  said  article ;  that  the 
same  was  written  and  published  by  one  Carl  Heinzen  about 
fifty  years  ago,  and  was  reprinted  by  the  defendant  in 
the  "Freiheit"  on  March  14,  1885;  that  the  defendant, 
John  Most,  as  soon  as  he  learned  of  the  assault  upon  our 
late  President,  made  all  possible  efforts  to  withdraw  the 
newspaper  containing  the  article  in  question  from  circula- 
tion; that  with  the  exception  of  those  which  had  been 
sent  through  the  mail  and  delivered  to  the  International 
News  Company,  no  more  copies 'had  been  sold,  so  far  as 
known  to  the  defendant.  It  was  also  admitted  that  the 
copy  of  said  newspaper  attached  to  the  information  was 
purchased  by  the  complainant  from  the  International 
News  Company. 

The  article  is  the  leading  one  on  the  editorial  page 


CASE  OF  JOHN  MOST  THE  ANARCHIST  311 

of  the  paper,  and  it  is  headed  "  Murder  vs.  Murder,"  in 
display  type.  The  article  begins :  "  As  Heinzen  said 
nearly  fifty  years  ago  (this  is  true  even  to-day),  there  are 
various  technical  expressions  for  the  important  manipula- 
tion by  which  one  human  being  destroys  the  life  of  an- 
other. These  expressions  are,  '  To  kill,  to  destroy,  murder, 
to  shoot,  to  slay,  to  poison,  to  put  out  of  the  world,  de- 
port to  Cayenne,  get  out  of  the  way,  to  behead,  to  strangle, 
to  cut  down,  to  be  killed  by  the  sword,  to  execute  by 
shooting,  to  imprison  for  life,  to  execute,  etc.'  The  means,, 
the  pretext,  and  the  reasons  are  various,  but  the  purpose 
is  always  the  same — the  destruction  of  a  life  that  is  hos- 
tile or  a  hindrance."  "  It  would  be  a  senseless  weakness 
to  disguise  by  sentimental  lamentations  the  frightful  fact 
that  the  best  means  of  historical  development  has  been 
murder,  and,  in  fact,  murder  in  the  most  colossal  shape; 
and  this  is  still  true."  "  Let  murder  be  our  study — mur- 
der in  every  form.  In  this  one  word  lies  more  humanity 
than  in  all  our  theories."  "  The  despots  are  outlawed ; 
they  are  in  human  society  what  the  tiger  is  among  animals ; 
to  spare  them  is  a  crime.  As  despots  permit  themselves 
everything,  betrayal,  poison,  murder,  etc.,  in  the  same 
way  all  this  is  to  be  employed  against  them.  Yes ;  crime 
directed  against  them  is  not  only  right,  but  it  is  the  duty 
of  every  one  who  has  an  opportunity  to  commit  it,  and  it 
would  be  a  glory  to  him  if  it  was  successful.  Only  towards 
mankind  is  there  a  moral  of  consideration;  the  moral 
toward  beasts  is  destruction."  "  Murder  as  a  necessary 
defence  is  not  only  permissible,  but  it  is  sometimes  a  duty 
towards  society  when  it  is  directed  against  a  professional 
murderer."  "  The  way  of  humanity  leads  over  the  sum- 
mit of  barbarism.  This  is  just  the  law  of  necessity  dic- 
tated by  reaction.  We  cannot  get  around  it,  as  we  do  not 


312  CASE   OP  JOHN  MOST   THE  ANARCHIST 

wish  to  renounce  the  future.  If  we  wish  to  design  we 
must  also  wish  the  means;  if  we  wish  the  life  of  the 
peoples  we  must  wish  for  the  death  of  their  enemies;  if 
we  wish  for  humanity  we  must  wish  for  murder."  "  It 
would  be  quite  a  new  war  policy  if  in  the  circus  the  pan- 
ther permitted  the  buffalo  to  prescribe  to  him  that  he 
should  defend  himself  with  horns  against  horns,  and  that 
he  should  not  immediately  spring  upon  his  back  from 
behind.  The  buffalo  militarism  request  that  the  revolu- 
tionists disarm  to  the  skin,  should  march  openly  against 
him  after  declaration  of  war  in  optimia  forma  militari, 
with  cannons  and  ammunition  wagons,  with  cavalry  and 
infantry,  after  the  people  had  been  disarmed.  We  do 
not  suffer  from  such  weakness;  we  say  murder  for  mur- 
derers; save  humanity  through  blood  and  iron,  poison  and 
dynamite." 

The  above  are  a  few  extracts  from  the  translation  of 
the  article  in  question.  It  is  impossible  to  read  the  whole 
article  without  deducing  from  it  the  doctrine  that  all  rulers 
are  enemies  of  mankind,  and  are  to  be  hunted  and  de- 
stroyed through  "  blood  and  iron,  poison  and  dynamite." 
It  is  no  answer  to  the  evil  and  criminal  nature  of  this 
article  to  claim  that  it  was  written  for  the  purpose  of  de- 
stroying crowned  heads.  It  inculcates  and  enforces  the 
idea  that  murder  is  the  proper  remedy  to  be  applied 
against  rulers.  The  fact  that  it  was  published  fifty  years 
ago  and  republished  about  fifteen  years  ago  only  empha- 
sizes and  gives  added  point  to  the  criminality  of  re- 
publishing  it  at  any  time.  It  shows  a  deliberate  intent  to 
inculcate  and  promulgate  the  doctrine  of  the  article.  This 
we  hold  to  be  a  criminal  act.  It  is  not  necessary  to  trace 
any  connection  in  this  article  with  the  assassination  of  the 
late  President.  The  offence  here,  in  the  eye  of  the  law,  is 


CASE  OF  JOHN  MOST  THE  ANARCHIST  313 

precisely  the  same  as  if  that  event  had  never  occurred. 
The  murder  of  the  President  only  serves  to  illustrate  and 
illuminate  the  enormity  of  the  crime  of  the  defendant  in 
teaching  his  diabolical  doctrines. 

Such  articles  and  doctrines  have  no  proper  place  in 
this  free  country.  They  stimulate  the  worst  possible  politi- 
cal ideas  and  passions,  and,  carried  to  their  logical  con- 
clusion, would  destroy  the  government.  It  was  said  by 
a  distinguished  English  judge,  in  the  celebrated  Somerset 
slave  case,  that  "  No  slave  can  breathe  the  free  air  of 
England."  It  would  be  well  if  the  laws  of  this  country 
were  such  that  it  could  be  said  truthfully  that  no  anarchist 
can  breathe  the  free  air  of  America. 

New  York,  October,  1901. 


LETTERS  OF  JUDGES  AND  OTHERS,  1861 


Albion,  May  22,  1861. 

Learning  that  Mr.  E.  B.  Hinsdale,  of  Le  Roy,  is  about 
to  remove  to  JSTew  York,  it  gives  me  great  pleasure  to 
recommend  him  to  the  favorable  notice  of  the  bench,  the 
bar,  and  the  public  generally,  of  that  city.  I  have  been 
acquainted  with  Mr.  Hinsdale  since  I  have  had  a  seat  on 
the  bench  of  this  district.  As  a  lawyer  he  is  well  read  and 
has  attained  a  good  standing  in  the  profession,  and  I 
believe  him  to  be  a  gentleman  of  good  character  and 
in  all  respects  entitled  to  the  respect  and  confidence  of 
the  community. 

Noah  Davis,  Jr., 

Justice  Supreme  Court. 


Buffalo,  May  22,  1861. 

I  fully  concur  in  the  above  and  cheerfully  commend 
Mr.  Hinsdale  to  the  favorable  consideration  and  confidence 
of  any  who  may  have  occasion  for  business  relations  with 
him. 

James  G.  Hoyt, 

Justice  Supreme  Court. 


Warsaw,  May  22,  1861. 

Having  been  informed  that  E.  B.  Hinsdale,  Esq.,  of 
Le  Roy,  contemplates  removing  to  the  city  of  New  York 
with  a  view  to  the  practice  of  the  law,  I  am  happy  to  say 
that  I  have  been  well  acquainted  with  him  for  several 
years;  that  he  has  tried  several  cases  before  me  as  a  ref- 
eree ;  that  I  regard  him  as  a  good  lawyer  and  a  gentleman 
of  high  standing  and  character.  His  habits  are  good  in 
every  respect.  I  have  no  doubt,  from  my  knowledge  of  his 
legal  abilities  and  attainments  and  industrious  habits,  that 
he  will  succeed  well  in  the  legal  profession,  and  I  cordially 
recommend  him  to  the  confidence  and  patronage  of  the 
profession  and  the  public  generally. 

H.  L.  Comstock, 
County  Judge  of  Wyoming  County. 


Rochester,  May  23,  1861. 

The  bearer  of  this,  Elizur  B.  Hinsdale,  Esq.,  attorney 
and  counsellor-at-law,  now  of  Le  Roy,  Genesee  County, 
"N.  Y.,  is  well  known  to  me.  I  am  informed  that  it  is 
his  purpose  to  remove  to  the  city  of  New  York  and  enter 
into  the  practice  of  his  profession  there.  He  deserves 
success,  and  I  believe  will  command  it.  He  is  a  man  of 
intelligence  and  honor,  a  good  lawyer,  of  industrious 
habits,  and  worthy  of  the  confidence  of  the  community 
where  he  may  reside. 

In  fine,  he  is  a  gentleman  whom  a  cautious  man  may 
commend  in  highest  terms  without  reserve,  or  fear  of 
reproach. 

John  H.  Martindale, 

Attorney  and  Counsellor-at-law. 


Kochester,  May  23,  1861. 

I  take  great  pleasure  in  stating  that  I  have  been 
acquainted  with  Elizur  B.  Hinsdale,  Esq.,  formerly  of 
Le  Roy,  Genesee  County,  for  several  years,  and  that  he 
is  a  gentleman  of  high  respectability  and  undoubted  honor 
and  integrity. 

Mr.  Hinsdale  is  about  removing  to  New  York  to  prac- 
tise his  profession,  and  I  cheerfully  recommend  him  to 
the  favorable  consideration  of  our  brethren  of  the  bar  as 
worthy  of  the  fullest  confidence. 

Jno.  0.  Chumasevo, 

Monroe  County  Judge. 


Rochester,  May  23,  1861. 

I  have  met  E.  B.  Hinsdale,  Esq.,  frequently  within  the 
last  four  or  five  years,  and  have  had  opportunities  to  be- 
come considerably  acquainted  with  him.  I  regard  him 
as  a  young  man  of  good  character  and  standing,  and  of 
excellent  abilities  and  promise  as  a  lawyer.  My  best 
wishes  will  attend  him  wherever  he  may  pursue  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession. 

T.  R.  Strong, 

Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court. 
21 


Bank  of  Genesee,  Batavia,  May  23,  1861. 

I  have  been  acquainted  with  Mr.  E.  B.  Hinsdale  from 
his  boyhood,  and  take  pleasure  in  commending  him  to  the 
confidence  of  any  person  desiring  his  services.  I  have  no 
doubt  he  will  prove  himself  worthy  of  any  trust  that  may 
be  confided  in  him,  and  will  diligently  and  faithfully 
attend  to  any  business  committed  to  his  care. 

H.  U.  Howard, 

President. 


Batavia,  May  25,  1861. 

I  have  this  moment  been  informed  that  Elizur  B.  Hins- 
dale, Esq.,  of  Le  Roy,  in  this  county,  contemplates  an  early 
removal  to  New  York  to  engage  in  professional  business. 
I  take  great  pleasure  in  recommending  Mr.  Hinsdale  to 
the  favorable  consideration  of  the  bench  and  bar  in  that 
city.  Mr.  Hinsdale  is  a  young  man  of  good  business  habits, 
and  has  made  good  proficiency  in  his  profession.  I  have 
been  acquainted  with  him  from  his  first  entering  the  pro- 
fession, and  recommend  him  as  an  industrious  and  thor- 
ough business  lawyer  of  irreproachable  character,  and  a 
gentleman  in  his  manners,  and  possessing  a  high  order 
of  talents.  May  he  be  abundantly  successful. 
Very  respectfully, 

Moses  Taggart, 

County  Judge   of  said   County  and  former 
Justice  Supreme  Court. 


Genesee  County  Bank,  Le  Roy,  May  28,  1861. 

For  sixteen  years  I  have  known  E.  B.  Hinsdale,  Esq. 
Have  frequently  met  him  socially,  and  had  numerous 
business  transactions  with  him,  and  know  him  to  be  a 
pleasant,  reliable  friend,  a  man  of  undoubted  integrity, 
and  believe  him  to  be  the  best  lawyer  of  our  county.  In 
the  transaction  of  law  business  he  is  prompt,  energetic, 
and  successful. 

Respectfully, 

S.  T.  Howard, 

Cashier. 


Jamestown,  May  31,  1861. 

I  have  been  acquainted  with  Mr.  E.  B.  Hinsdale,  a 
member  of  the  Genesee  bar,  for  several  years,  and  from 
the  commencement  of  his  practice.  He  is  a  young  gentle- 
man of  good  abilities  and  well  read  in  his  profession.  He 
possesses  great  industry  and  perseverance,  as  has  been 
often  shown  by  his  briefs  and  arguments,  and  I  do  not 
hesitate  in  commending  him  to  the  confidence  of  all  who 
may  make  his  acquaintance.  He  is,  I  understand,  about 
to  commence  business  in  the  city  of  New  York.  He  is 
at  liberty  to  show  this  to  the  judges,  the  profession,  and 
others  in  that  city. 

Kespectfully, 

E.  P.  Marvin, 
Presiding  Justice  Supreme  Court,  Eighth  District. 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


Form  L-9-15m-7,'31 


E664  Hinsdale  - 
H545A1 

Autobiography 
with  reports  and 
documents. 


.i1.?  S.°.4™ERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A    001  209  972 


